The Little Detective
by HikariAA
Summary: When high school detective, Kudo Shinichi, suddenly vanishes one night at Tropical Land, it's up to seven year-old, Edogawa Conan, figure out what in the world happened to his brother. [AU]
1. The Golden Apple of Discord

**File One: The Golden Apple of Discord**

Conan leaned back on his seat at the airport lounge with a heavy sigh.

Of course his brother would be late. The plane should have landed about an hour ago, yet there was no sign of its arrival. He briefly wondered what could have happened so that the flight got delayed, until he realized there was no point of it, as he already knew the answer.

_Probably a murder. Or a kidnapping. Or a hijacking, even..._

Most likely someone got killed, though. Shinichi, the living corpse magnet, was in the plane, after all.

A giant yawn caught the six year old by surprise causing him to quickly cover his mouth with his tiny little hand, in an attempt to muffle the sound.

Unsurprisingly, the woman sitting beside him noticed.

"Are you sleepy, Co-chan?" the woman glanced at her watch, feeling a bit confused. "Hmm... It's only five thirty, though... It's still early."

"I'm fine, Mom," replied the boy with an annoyed sigh. "I'm not tired."

She gave him a suspicious look. "Are you sure about that?"

"Positive," he replied, not batting an eye. Yukiko seemed to open her mouth to say something, but Conan beated her to it. "I'm going to buy a drink or something."

He hopped off his seat and walked away, avoiding his mother's worried look. As he made his way through the people, he could not help but wipe away a tear on the corner of his eye, which had made its way there when he had yawned a few moments before.

_I should be at home with Dad at this very moment, _he lamented over and over in his head.

Conan certainly didn't want to be here. He would have been a very happy child if they had just let him bury his nose in a book and stay there until nighttime. But no, of course not. Of course his mother would drag him with her to the airport.

And then, on top of that, she had told him she planned to bring him along to the theatre. He should've seen this coming, but everything had happened so quickly that he didn't even have the chance to bring his prized copy of _A Study in Scarlet _with him.

Finally, the child reached a vending machine, bought a can of coffee and drank from it as he made his way back to his mother.

The woman was not alone, though, Conan realized. Beside the woman stood two people; a girl and a boy he recognized almost instantly.

"I have like fifty missed calls from Sonoko," he could hear the girl complaining, as she went through the phone, before sighing a little bit. "And she's angry with me for turning off my phone... Did she really want me to cause the plane to crash or something?"

"Actually, your phone can't cause the plane to crash," they all turned around to face the child, as he walked closer with a bored expression on his face.

"Conan-kun!" Ran was quick to run over to him and kneel down so she could be at his eye level and smiled brightly at him. "You have grown a lot ever since I last saw you!"

"Do you really think so?" Shinichi walked closer and ruffled the kid's hair, prompting him to glare daggers at his older brother. "I looks like he's still the same midget we all know and love."

"Leave me alone," he slapped his hand away as he grumbled, tickled off, and brought his coffee close to his mouth to take another sip, only to get it whisked away before he could do anything about it.

"Hey, do you want to remain a shortie forever?" his brother held the can far above his reach, grinning down at the kid, teasingly. "This stuff seriously stunts your growth."

Conan narrowed his eyes. "We both know that is not true."

"Still," Ran waved a finger at him, her tone stern. "You shouldn't drink coffee. It's not good for you."

The little boy could do nothing but nod without any complain, and ignore the urge to wipe his brother's amused grin off his face as the teen drank from _his _coffee. At that, Shinichi only laughed louder as they all began to walk back towards the car.

His laugh suddenly stopped.

Conan raised an eyebrow as he watched his brother stop on his tracks for a second, quickly spinning around as he stared at the crowd of people..

"Is something wrong?"

The kid could only blink, confused, when the teenager jumped suddenly at the sound of his voice, and opened his mouth to ask again. Before he could do anything, Shinichi ruffled his hair and took his hand, much in his dismay, while he steered him away.

"Let's hurry before those two leave without us," he said, clearly referring to Ran and their mother, who chatted cheerfully a long distance ahead.

And then, he smiled. That would have been enough.

If it hadn't been so obviously fake.

"So, Conan, have you been?" at some point of the silent, long ride, Shinichi grinned at the kid, who sat at the back beside a slumbering, jet-lagged, Ran. "How is like living in America?"

"Fine," the child replied with a flat voice.

"It might have been tough, you know. Suddenly moving to a different country on the other side of the world, with a completely new language. Mom told me your English is mostly flawless, though."

Conan gave him a non-committal hum in response.

"You haven't been causing trouble, have you?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at him. "I haven't, _unlike others_."

Both Yukiko and Shinichi flinched at that, not quite knowing who he was referring to. The mother quickly recovered, focusing back at the road while pretending not to pay attention to the one-sided conversation her children where having.

"S-So," the detective let out a strained laugh. "You're starting elementary school in a few days, right?"

"Right."

"Are you looking forward it?"

"Not quite."

At this point, it seemed like the older brother got the message and gave up on having a conversation with the younger, resigning himself to direct his attention at the window.

Conan's eyes didn't leave his form though, just narrowed slightly.

The quietness was broken, though, when Ran spoke up, seemingly waking up from her nap. She then complained to Shinichi, given the fact that he hadn't bothered to wake her up earlier to sightsee the city as they drove.

And like so, they fell into a heated argument. _Some things never change, do they?_

"The science of deduction is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study," Conan's ears perked at that. "Yet life is not long enough for a mortal to master it, you see, my dear Watson."

"He didn't say that," the boy frowned at him. "Holmes-san didn't say 'my dear Watson' at the end of that quote."

"Eh? Did you read Sherlock Holmes, Conan-kun?" Ran turned to him, visually shocked.

He nodded at her. "I'm still reading _A Study in Scarlet_, though," he then gave his mother a very dark look. "And I would've finished it by now if it wasn't for _someone I know_."

"Ah, is that so...?" Ran mumbled, as she slowly backed away from the angry little child.

Yumiko didn't seem fazed at all, however. She seemed to be amused, even.

"Give this a chance, Co-chan," she smiled even wider when her youngest groaned at his nickname. "You might like it more than all that detective stuff your father and brother are so obsessed with."

Shinichi glanced at his mother, noticing that her eyes were shining, wickedly, and gulped.

_Ah, she's at it again. Trying to get Conan interested on anything but mysteries._

"Whatever," Conan finally sighed tiredly, letting his head rest against the window. "Is not like I have any say on this."

The child watched as a car passed by them, carrying a neon sign that read '_Golden Apple_', and almost sighed again at the thought of being forced to watch a musical, of all plays that he could have possibly be dragged to.

Somehow, the topic of the conversation shifted and the three were now talking about the serial killer that was on the loose.

Ran was tense.

"I-I think we shouldn't talk about this in front of Conan-kun," she laughed, nervously.

"Huh? Don't worry, the killer only targets young women," Shinichi commented, and the girl flinched at the thought that _she _could be targeted. "Besides, with Dad around I think he should be used to hear worse stuff than that. Right, Conan?"

There was no reply, and Shinichi wasn't surprised at the sightless, just sighed exasperatedly. Ran, on the other hand, turned to the child with an awkward smile on her face.

Then, she froze.

Conan was practically slumped against the window, breathing softly as he slept.

"He's asleep," Ran blinked, surprised.

Shinichi instantly craned his neck to look over his shoulder to see that, yes, the youngest Kudo had somehow dozed off in such a short amount of time.

"He hasn't been sleeping well," Yukiko commented, as she kept her eyes trained to the road. "Every morning I have been waking up to find him burying his nose on a book at the library. I think he sneaks off at night and stays up to read," she sighed. "Honestly, that kid..."

His older brother gave the young boy a long look before turning back to his mother. "How long has it been?"

"About a week, I think."

Meanwhile, Ran could not help but smile a little bit as she watched the young boy. It wasn't long until her maternal instincts kicked in and removed the coat she had been using to cover herself in order to drape it over his slumbering form.

"Conan-kun looks so young like this," Ran commented, not taking her eyes off him.

"Of course he does," Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "He's just six, after all."

"I know that, but he's so mature and independant that sometimes I forget," her eyes softened, yet her smile dropped slightly. "He used to be so sweet and innocent before..."

Neither Conan's mother or brother said anything in reply. The teen just choose to glance at the young boy once more before focusing back to the road, a concerned frown still fixed on his face.

_Conan..._

* * *

"... nan... Co... nan..." the voice filtered through his unconscious mind, prompting him to groan softly, curling tighter around himself in a feeble attempt to retain his sleep. "Wa... up."

It was in vain, though. Conan was woken up suddenly when the car began to shift, and it didn't even take a second for him to unbuckle himself and drag himself to the other side of the car.

By the time his eyes opened up, half of his small body had been pulled out of the window, his arms supporting his weight against the door as the car balanced on two wheels and turned at almost ninety degrees off the ground.

He could also see his brother sitting on the window as he held a speechless Ran against his chest. Shinichi noticed him and grinned at him.

"Hey."

"Don't 'hey' me," Conan scowled. "You could've woken me before _this._"

"I tried, I really did."

"You have good reflexes, though, Co-chan!" he heard him mother speaking to him. "Just like your mother."

"Just don't blame me if you get another speeding ticket... for the fourth time this week."

Soon, the car went back on his four wheels as it drove away. Even after they settled down, the girl was shaken. Conan watched as she breathed, heavily, with a look of complete terror plastered on her eyes.

"See, not bad," said Shinichi with a bright smile on his face, while his mother just giggled softly.

Like so, Ran snapped.

"ARE YOU ALL CRAZY?!"

And Conan could not agree more.

"What was all of this about, anyways?" the kid groaned, looking at his wrist watch as the car pulled up in front of the theatre. "We're still one hour early, aren't we?"

"I promised we would meet the person who gave us the tickets," the mother explained with a smile, until she froze, eyes opened in shock. "Co-chan?"

"What?"

"Do you know what time is it?"

"Ten past seven," he replied, immediately. "Why?"

"Ah!" she suddenly screamed, startling the child. "So you knew about summer time!"

"Well, yeah," Conan shrugged. "Don't tell me you forgot about it, _again_?"

"You could've remindered me!"

"Yes, I could," he said, matter of factly. _But I didn't want to, _was left unsaid.

Before Yukiko could whine about it some more, the sound of police sirens filled the air and, shortly ever after, a policeman knocked softly her glass window.

But, of course she was saved when a inspector she apparently knew very well covered for her. _She's so lucky, sometimes, _Conan sighed, tiredly, and glanced at his brother, expecting to see a similar expression plastered on his face. Except, that wasn't the case.

Shinichi wasn't looking anywhere but the inspector's face, eyes open like two big, round plates. Sweat dripped from his chin while he trembled, slightly. It didn't seem like he had noticed it, though.

_What...? _Conan blinked at him, confused.

After convincing the policeman that she was an undercover agent chasing after a dangerous criminal, Yukiko smiled at the man.

"Thanks Radish," she said. "You saved me."

"No, no," then, it was the kid's turn to jump when his voice changed into a higher-pitched, _female _one. "You're thanking the wrong person."

Conan had absolutely no idea of why, but that voice sent chills down his back, and for a moment he didn't think he could remember how to breathe properly.

This person then teared the mask from her face, letting them see on its place a fair skinned, blonde woman, which Conan didn't seem to recognize yet prompted her mother to beam.

"Why don't you thank me..." the woman smiled at Yukiko. "... Sharon Vineyard?"

"Sharon!"

"Sharon... Who?" Conan asked softly, more to himself than anyone else.

"She's a very famous actress," Ran explained to him, with that a patience she would only have with a little child like he was. "She has worked alongside your mother several times."

_Maybe that is why I don't have a clue of who this woman is, _he realized. After all, he had always avoided like the plague any movies with her on it.

"Right, Shinichi...?" when she looked at the boy, however, he noticed how shaken he looked. "Shinichi, are you okay? You're so pale."

"A-Ah, no," he then he seemed to wake up from whatever stupor he had been before. "I'm alright. I just think I got a bit sick after Mom's driving."

And then, Shinichi's eyes met Sharon's.

Conan swore he saw the woman smirking, slightly, in a disturbingly scary way.

* * *

Conan pinched his cheek in an attempt to wake himself up, yet it didn't help much. Sighing tiredly, he cradled his head with his open palm as he watched the actors dancing across the stage.

When Shinichi yawned loudly beside him, the kid realized he might not be the only one having a hard time staying awake.

"You could at least _try _to look interested," the child commented.

"You don't look like you are any better than me," Shinichi quickly replied. "I caught you nodding off a few minutes ago."

"At least I'm not disturbing those that _do _enjoy this play by yawning like a sleep-deprived hippo, rather loudly if I may say."

The teen gave his brother a long look. _Is it normal for a six year-old to be this sassy?_

"Why don't you pay more attention?" Ran scolded him lightly, whispering on his ear.

"What's exciting about this? It's just a comedic take on an old Greek myth."

"The Golden Apple," Conan nodded. "But this is an adaptation, so things are bound to change from the original. Might as well give a try."

"Co-chan is right," Yukiko giggled beside Ran. "You will be surprised at that poor-looking aristocrat's true identity."

Quite a plot twist, indeed, when Paris suddenly grew wings and appeared in the mirror, claiming to be the archangel Michael. _Did just an archangel appear in an adaptation of a greek myth?_

... So random.

Smoke soon covered the entire stage, making it possible to see a laser sight that seemed to be directed at the balcony.

Then, there was a sound that shouldn't be there, that startled both Conan and Shinichi.

_Was that... a gunshot?!_

And then the angel was lifted from behind the mirror, red blood dripping from his pure white clothes. Something fell on the ground, and it wasn't until the smoke cleared that they could see it; a gun.

Everyone screamed.

And of course, Shinichi took off running.

"Take care of Ran and Conan!" he told his mother before disappearing.

"Wait, Shin-chan!" he was gone before she could even finish. Then she sighed. "That boy..."

"Eh?" she heard Ran. "Where did Conan-kun go?"

"What?!"

Meanwhile, Conan went up the stage, where people were already crowding around the fallen angel, who had already been lowered to the ground. There were no other injuries beside the obvious wound on his heart.

The child glanced at the mirror, _He was standing right behind there, wasn't he? _and decided to take a look. He went behind the object and examined every single detail, looking for _anything _that would tell him what in the world did just happen.

He walked alongside the curtains and noticed that, for some reason, it was strangely twisted.

Then, when his gaze dropped to the ground, he found it. There was a small, innocent white feather, stuck on an iron trapdoor. From what he could see, however, it seemed like there was cement under it.

_There has to be a way to move it..._

* * *

"Hey, Shinichi, let's return," Ran insisted as she walked behind her childhood friend, clutching the papelet against her chest. "I'm worried about Conan-kun. I haven't seen him since the time of the murder... Do you think he-?"

"He's fine. That kid have always been like that," Shinichi replied even as he still looked around. "Besides the killer is definitely one of those three actresses, and they are with the police by now. There's no chance they would hurt him."

The teen then stopped in front of the mirror and looked down. There was a small flip door and pulled his handkerchief out from his pocket to open it.

Before he could do anything, however, the door suddenly opened by itself, prompting Shinichi to fall ungracefully on his butt. Ran stepped back, shocked as well.

Then, a small head popped out and stared blankly at the teenagers.

"Conan! Don't scare me like that," Shinichi breathed out. "How did you get down here?"

"I snuck around," he replied with all honesty. "And figured out how to shift the floor to reveal this hole."

"But why would you do that, Conan-kun?" Ran walked closer and kneeled down close to him.

"The laser beam I saw before pointed at the terrace," he explained as he pulled himself up, and stood on ground. "Mom has brought me there before and I can say for sure it's very hard to see the play, let alone shoot someone so accurately. Which means it was only a decoy."

The pair then watched, perplexed, as the child ran around the mirror and laid in front of it. A tiny hand appeared from under the mirror and passed through the grid.

"If you were to lie down like this and then..." he made a gun gesture with his fingers. "... you shoot just like this while Heath-san is being risen from the trap door, you certainly _can _shoot him on the heart."

Conan quickly stood up and went back to them. "The proof of is that you can find blood, feathers and the cartridge from the gun."

"That was amazing, Conan-kun!" Ran exclaimed. "You sound just like a detective."

"E-Eh?" the child blushed a bit. "I-I... No."

"What about the gun, then?" his brother asked. "Have you figured out how she made it so it fell from a high place?"

"No," he admitted with a sigh. "I haven't got a clue."

"You were so close, though," much to his annoyment, Shinichi ruffled his hair as he grinned. "You did a splendid job, child detective."

"I'm telling you, I'm not a detective."

* * *

"Some call me a legendary Japanese actress, while others call me the wife of a world-renowned mystery writer. I call myself the lady detective with little gray cells... Night Baroness!"

Conan was suddenly blinded when the spotlight fell on Ran, Shinichi and him, by mistake. Suddenly realizing the error he had committed, the man behind the special effects moved the light to Yukiko, who then smirked cockily.

"Hey," Conan turned to Shinichi, his voice laced with clear annoyment. "Why did you tell her all of your deductions?"

"She wouldn't stop bothering me until I did," he smiled, apologetically. "Besides, Mom _is _already known as the Night Baroness. She has much more credibility than I, a simple high school student, could ever have."

"Still..."

_We really don't need to make her ego bigger than it already is..._

Even if he already had heard it from his brother, Conan listened attentively as Yukiko explained the trick. When she finished, she looked at Rose and accused her as the killer.

Proof was on her gloves. Turning them inside out revealed a bloody handprint. It turned out she had fallen in love with his role as Michael and couldn't bear the thought of him quitting and having another actor taking on the mantle.

"He killed Michael, right when I finally told him I was in love with the Michael he was playing!" she screamed. "But God blessed me anyway. When I dropped the armor, my dress was caught on the rail by coincidence, until I was saved."

And then she turned to Ran with a cold smile, and told her in English.

"_Thank you, Sweet Angel. You helped me do it."_

Ran only stared at her, confused, as Rose laughed and began to walk away, taken by the police. She didn't notice a tiny little foot pressing on her dress until she tripped, painfully falling on her face.

Looking up, she saw a child. His eyes were hidden by his glasses, the light reflecting on them.

"_After she selflessly risked her wellbeing to save you, you have absolutely no right to say such a thing," _he raised his head, letting the murderer see icy cold eyes glaring hatefully back at her. "_You are disgusting."_

Rose could only look away, and shakily stood up, doing her best to ignore the little boy.

If Ran was an angel, she decided, this one was definitely a demon in the body of a child.

Shinichi could only stare.

_This kid is scary._


	2. Pointing a Gun at My Face

**File Two: Pointing a Gun at My Face**

Soon, the trio were sitting in a taxi heading back home, given the fact that Yukiko had to go to the police station for questioning. It was clear as day that Shinichi was the only one who wanted to talk, given the fact that Ran seemed to be down for some reason and Conan being _Conan _prefered to look out the window in silence.

"And this is what Holmes said..."

The kid groaned and covered his ears. "Could you talk about _anything _else?" he grumbled. "You _are_ really trying to spoil me, aren't you?"

"Sorry, sorry," he laughed briefly. "You said you were reading _A Study in Scarlet, _right? Did you reach the part where Holmes-"

"Shut it," he glared at his brother, but his look visually softened when he spotted Ran, who was quietly staring at her lap at the other end of the car. "Ran-neechan, are you okay?"

"Don't tell me it's about what Rose said," Shinichi asked, concerned.

"Eh?" she blinked. "Her English was too quick so I didn't understand, what'd she say?"

"It was nothing, she didn't say much."

Conan frowned a bit at her answer, but decided to not press any further.

"Put up your window, you'll get a cold," Shinichi told her. "Especially if that fever you mentioned gets worse."

"I'm alright now. Besides, I can't see New York if the window is up."

The child raised an eyebrow. _Yes, you can._

"But still, the car will get wet, and the driver wouldn't like that."

"Don't worry," she brought a pink handkerchief from her pocket and held it up for the boy to see. Conan recognized it as the one that Sharon had given her a few hours ago. "I'll wipe down the seats before I get out."

"Ran-neechan, maybe you shouldn't..."

Predictably so, the wind made the piece of cloth slip from her fingers and fly off the window. Ran gasped and pleaded to the driver to stop. The child decided to wait in the car as the other two went to fetch it. He really didn't want to get wet.

Conan watched as Shinichi went inside an abandoned building and Ran stared after him, gripping tightly the umbrella that protected her from the rain. There was something there, however, that caused Conan's breath to freeze in his lungs.

There, he saw a man, slowly walking towards Ran.

"_He's of Japanese descent with long hair," _his mother's warning echoed in his mind.

"Ran-neechan!" he pulled his head off the window and yelled, not minding the rain soaking his hair. "Run away! He might be the serial killer!"

"_Hey, hurry up!" _the taxist screamed as well "_Jump in!"_

But Ran was paralyzed out of fear. She was unable to move, let alone using karate on him. Cursing under his breath, the child jumped off the car and ran. The taxi driver cursed under his breath and took off, but the small boy paid no mind to it.

He stood beside her, trying his best not to look scared.

"Conan-kun, what are you doing?!" she shouted. "You need to run!"

Conan said nothing, just analyzed the man in front of him. A few moments later, he blinked confusedly and then sighed in relief. "Don't worry, he's not the killer."

"Eh?"

"If he was, he would've already murdered you, and then kill both the taxi driver and me before we could escape so nobody could recognize his face," the child then smiled at him. "Right, Officer-san?"

"Close enough, but I'm not a police officer," the man stared for a bit, before smirking. "Have any of you seen a suspicious man?"

"None, besides you," Conan replied, dryly.

"C-Conan-kun!"

A car came from the way the man had came from and stopped right beside him. Another man stepped out and turned to the long haired one.

"_Did you find him, sir?" _he asked in English.

"_No, I found only a pair of tourists. I guess he hasn't been to this street. The gunfight against us excited the beast, he couldn't have gone without catching the girl."_

Conan then turned his attention to the man that had gotten here by car, and noticed the letters _FBI _printed on his back.

_So that was what he meant when he said he wasn't a police officer._

The man with the long hair took Ran by the arm. "You can get to the main street if you take a right at this corner, I suggest you take a taxi from here."

"But wait, I'm waiting for my friend..."

"Then, I'll say this once for you, this kid, and your friend: Leave!"

And just like that, the two agents disappeared into the night. Conan was the first one to move, heading inside the building to search for his brother. Ran didn't even need to ask to understand and follow after him.

The girl gasped, staring at the floor. The kid followed her gaze, only to find tiny little drops of blood.

_Don't tell me he..._

"We need to find Shinichi," said Ran, determined, as she began to climb up the stairs, and called for him. "Shinichi?"

Her umbrella was left forgotten on the ground, prompting Conan to take it and walk behind her. A dizzy spell suddenly hit Ran and she all but collapsed against the handrail.

"Ran-neechan!" Conan hurried up beside her, and reached the girl as soon as she began to straighten herself. "This is the sickness you two were talking about before, right? You should stay here while I go get-"

He stopped talking when she shook her head at him. "No, I have to do this," she began walking up again, slowly, while Conan could only panic while standing beside her. "Shinichi came in here after the handkerchief I lost. It's my fault."

Her eyes watered as she continued to climb.

"Yes. I-It really is my fault."

Conan stared innocently at her. "This... This isn't about the handkerchief anymore, is it?" Ran did not reply. "This is about what that woman said."

"N-No, that's not it," she struggled to give him a weak smile, which was far from convincing. "Didn't you heard when I told Shinichi I didn't understand what she said?"

"You're lying," he said, quickly. "At that time Rose spoke slowly and clearly, and your English is not _that _bad. You definitely understood her."

Ran sighed, seemingly giving up trying to lie to this kid.

"If I hadn't saved her, Heath-san wouldn't..."

"If you had let Rose die, would you be able to live it with it?" the question shocked her, greatly. She glanced at the small yet very smart boy, who smiled warmly up at her. "You're kind, Ran-neechan, that's who you are. Don't be so hard with yourself."

Before she could reply, however, they heard it.

Steps.

Someone was coming downstairs, and it certainly wasn't Shinichi.

It was a man, with long silver hair and a gun on his hand. He was injured, Conan dimly noticed.

"Conan, Ran!" they heard Shinichi crying, desperately. "Run! That's the serial killer!"

Conan froze as he watched the man pulling out a silencer and began to put it on. Before anyone could do anything, however, the rail he was leaning on gave up and he began to fall.

The silencer fell into the asphalt with a metallic sound. The killer, however, didn't.

The child could not believe his eyes. Ran was suddenly grabbing into the killer's jacket, holding into it like dear life, shouting at him to hurry up and grab her arm.

Shinichi soon copied her actions, after making a run downstairs as soon as the killer had set his eyes on Ran and Conan. Soon thereafter, the silver-haired man was back on his feet, glaring at them.

_What should I do? _Conan trembled slightly, his knuckles now white after grasping on Ran's umbrella so tightly. If worse came to worse, what could a six year-old do? A worn-out umbrella wasn't going to do much against a charged gun.

"Why?" the murdered yelled. "Why did you save me?"

"Because Conan-kun was right," the girl said, softly, and Conan jumped at the mention of his name, purely out of surprise. Her voice was growing weaker at each passing second, however, "If I let you die... I don't think I would be able to live... with myself."

And then she turned to the frozen child and smiled warmly, mounting a _thank you _before all strength left her. Her eyes closed and she dropped into the floor, just like a puppet with its strings cut.

"H-Hey, Ran!" Shinichi called, concern written on his face.

Finally, Conan felt his legs moving. "Ran-neechan!" and soon he was right beside her, resting a small hand against her forehead and looking at his brother with some sort of urgency. "She's burning up. We need to get here out of here."

"I got it," he replied and turned around to pick the girl up. He heard the click, so he didn't need his little brother to tell him that he was being pointed by a gun.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that," Conan said, quickly, as he glared at the man. "I found an FBI agent on my way here not that long ago. They are looking for you, and they are nearby. They will hear you as soon as you fire that gun."

The killer gritted his teeth and lowered the gun. Only then, Conan found himself able to breathe properly again.

"I'll let you go for now. But if you hurt either Ran or Conan, I won't show mercy next time," his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'll prove your crimes with any evidence necessary and I'll make sure you're put away, even if my life goes with it."

And, like so, Shinichi carried Ran away, his little brother following after him, staring at him curiously

Just now, his brother really did look like an entire different person. Back there he sounded so serious and determined, even if he was talking to a serial killer...

But Conan knew he had been terrified, if the way his hands still shook and sweat dripped from his forehead was something to go by.

At the end, they arrived home without any further complications. Ran didn't wake and rested for the entire night.

That night, though, Conan woke up suddenly, only to find himself sitting straight up on his own bed, completely drenched in cold sweat.

Shakily, the kid brought his hand to his forehead, trying uselessly to slow his breathing, but it only kept coming out in short, sharp gasps. Even minutes after waking up, Conan's heart still violently pounded against his chest, threatening to leap out his little chest.

Realizing that, once more, he wouldn't be able to get more sleep, he carefully slipped out of bed.

Shinichi woke up to a soft whimpering from the room next to his and craned his head, the numbers on his digital clock shining angrily at him.

_3:37 AM_

Like so the young detective laid awake, keeping an ear out and waiting until he heard the muffled sound of barefoot steps against the cool wooden floor.

Silently, the teen opened the door just to see the small figure of a child slowly heading downstairs. It really didn't take a detective to figure out where he was going, so he wasn't surprised when he found his little brother sitting on the carpet-covered floor of their old library, focusing on an open Sherlock Holmes' book.

The way he rubbed his eyes every five seconds, however, told Shinichi that the kid was having a very hard time going through it this late at night.

"Just like I suspected," Conan's entire body jerked up at the sudden voice. "I thought it was weird you haven't finished _A Study In Scarlet _yet, even though you have supposedly been up reading all night for a week now."

Once recovered from the first shock, Conan frowned at him, and pretended to focus back on his book. He kept at it, even when Shinichi crossed the room and sat cross-legged beside him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Shinichi tried.

"I don't remember it," Conan answered rather quickly. "So I can't, even if I wanted to."

Conan heard his brother sigh tiredly and expected him to stand up and go back to bed, leaving him alone with his book, yet that didn't happen. He, instead, scooted closer and raised the child from his armpits.

The kid, in turn, could barely hold back a childish squeak when he was suddenly held in the air, before being placed on his lap.

"What are you doing?" the child asked, wide eyed, while he watched the teen taking the book from his little hands and opened it to read for himself.

"I'm helping you," he replied, easily. "At this pace you aren't going to finish it until you are fifteen."

Conan just stared blankly at him for a few seconds and sighed, resigning to his fate since he was way too tired to fight his brother. Shinichi, on the other hand, gave him a gentle smile and placed his hand on his shoulder, pressing the child's small body against his chest.

"I wish you could trust me enough to tell me, though," he confessed with a low voice. "What's bothering you, Conan?"

When the young boy said nothing the detective sighed, opening the book unceremoniously.

_"I confess that..."_ his brother began reading out loud. _"... I was considerably startled by this fresh proof of the practical nature of my companion's theories."_

And Conan listened at every single word, somewhat impressed by how good the teen actually was. His English somewhat lacked in proper pronunciation, but the way he interpreted Watson and Holmes dialogue while reading totally made it up to it.

_"Then, of course, this blood belongs to a second individual ─ presumably the murderer, if murder has been committed."_

The way his eyes sparkled when he read Holmes' lines didn't go unnoticed. It amused him beyond belief to see his brother this excited, just like a child, even if Conan was supposed to be one himself.

It was so different from the Kudo Shinichi he would see every single night on his dreams...

Icy cold eyes and a deadly, solemn, expression on his face.

Yet, there he was, tenderly cradling his little brother against his body as he read his favourite book for him. Conan hadn't noticed it until now, but Shinichi was rocking his body back and forth, in a very comforting manner.

The gentle rocking motion was relaxing Conan and his body was gradually growing heavier, slumping even more against Shinichi's chest. He could clearly hear his steady, calming heartbeat from his spot.

How could he ever tell his brother what was bothering him?

Especially when he was certain he would see him again, without fail, as soon as he stepped into dreamland...

_... Pointing a gun at my face._

The hand that wasn't holding the book was now on top of his head, running through strands of hair and gently untangling them.

Conan's eyelids dropped sleepily, so much that he had to struggle to keep them open, hoping to hear more about Holmes' brilliant deductions. The ministrations on his head and the vibrations of his vocal chords as Shinichi spoke slowly, but steadily, lulled him into a strange state of peace and quietness he didn't remember ever feeling in his short life.

_Was that dream even real?_

_Or is this...?_

_..._

_... So warm..._

Bone-weary exhaustion dragged Conan down and eventually lost the battle. His eyes finally slipped closed and fell into deep slumber before Shinichi could finish reading the chapter.

For the first time in what it felt like a really long time, the nightmares didn't bother him, not even once, throughout the rest of the night.


	3. A Haunted Mansion Murder Case

**File Three: A Haunted Mansion Murder Case**

The morning sun filtered through the windows, prompting a pair of blue eyes to open slightly. Blinking sleepily, Conan glanced around the room.

_So I'm back in my room..._

Upon remembering what had happened last night, he couldn't help but blush a bit. He already knew he was still a young little boy, but that didn't mean he liked acting like one.

_He must have carried me here after I dozed off last night, _he mused, as he stretched himself a bit.

Yet, there was something he really had to admit ─ he felt so much more rested than he had ever felt in the entire week.

Eventually, he headed downstairs to have some breakfast, only to find himself gaping in disbelief, frozen in his place at the door frame of the living room.

So, the blue suitcase was Shinichi's and the pink one belonged to Ran, right?

_... Right?_

"Good morning, Conan," he didn't even react when Shinichi ruffled his hair. "Did you sleep well?"

"... Just one quick question."

"Huh?"

"Did either Ran-neechan or you bring more than one suitcase each?"

"Of course not, we weren't going to stay long, after all."

"Then..." a shaky finger pointed at the red suitcase, timidly standing on the corner of the room. "Whose is that one?"

"... Eh?"

"It's yours, Co-chan," he felt hands resting on his shoulders and his mother's cheerful voice coming from above his head. "Your father and I had a very long talk this morning and decided it would be best for you to start elementary school in Japan!"

Conan could only blink in confusion. "... What?"

Yukiko smiled at him and kneeled down in front of him, his hands not moving from their spot on his shoulders.

"I know how hard this year has been on you. A fresh start could do some good to you."

The kid did no reply, knowing that the woman was right about that. Living in America had not been easy, especially when you were the Japanese four-eyed kid with the weird name.

And, sometimes, kids could be pretty cruel.

"But Mom," Shinichi stepped up and tried to reason with her. "I'm only fifteen. You can't expect me to take care of a child all by myself!"

Conan snorted at that. "I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself far better than you."

"I can-!"

"I bet you can't even cook for yourself."

"W-Well..."

"Just one more thing," their smiling mother interrupted the duo before they could continue. "Since it might be difficult for Co-chan to live a normal life sharing a name with a famous novelist and an actress like myself, we decided that for now on his surname will be Edogawa."

...

"What?!"

* * *

At the end, his parents _really _went through it, even if his brother had constantly tried to persuade them not to. One day he was Kudo Conan, a child living in America with his ridiculously rich parents and the other he was Edogawa Conan, the new kid in Teitan Elementary School, in Japan.

He had no idea what kind of friends his father had called to get his name changed, but he honestly didn't want to know.

"Hey, Conan-kun, come on," barely a day after he had arrived, a girl of his age was at his desk, trying to convince him to do something, probably a crazy stunt. "Go ghost hunting with us!"

Conan gave her a blank look. _This girl... What was her name again?_

"Give it up, Ayumi," a boy with a large complexion crossed his arms in front of his chest. "There's no way he'll be useful to us!"

"But Genta-kun, you and I won't be enough."

_Ah, Yoshida Ayumi and Kojima Genta... That's right._

Ghost hunting, though... He really, _really, _didn't want to go. Abandoned or not, sneaking into someone else's property _was _still a crime and could get them into big trouble.

Even more considering these two. Conan might not know a lot about them ─ hell, he didn't even remember their names until a second ago ─ but he could tell they were a pain just by looking at them.

Considering the way Ayumi screamed, frightened at the thought of evil spirits roaming around in the house, he could easily picture her doing the same _inside _the property, thus alerting the neighbors about their presence. Genta seemed to be loud by nature, so a similar outcome could be expected.

"That's all make believe," a boy commented, as he closed a science book he had been previously reading. "In this modern age of science, the only ghosts and monsters are in the manga and on TV!"

That one was Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, Conan remembered. He actually didn't dislike that one kid in particular. He was smart and quite logical, a good change from the obnoxious and loud nature of the children Conan was used to be around.

Even if he was a bit of a nerd.

"Then, come with us to prove that ghosts aren't real!" Genta shouted at him.

"Eh? I have to go, too?" Mitsuhiko sighed, tiredly.

Conan would been lying if he said he couldn't empathize with him.

"Conan-kun, you believe what I said, right?" the girl leaned closer, expectantly looking at him.

"That's hard to say for sure..." he trailed off when he spotted the dejected expression on Ayumi's face, and then the murderous glare Genta sent his way. Even Mitsuhiko gave him a disappointed look. "But I think that you are saying the truth, Yoshida-san."

_The truth from her point of view, at least..._

Ayumi visually brightened at those words, and Conan mentally sighed in relief. Genta, feeling satisfied with that answer, pumped his fist in the air.

"Alright then," he declared. "After school, we'll get ready and rush to that house!"

"Yeah!" the girl cheered, raising Conan and Mitsuhiko's hands on the air, against their wishes.

Conan did not say anything. _There's no way I'm taking part on this._

Tonight, he decided, was going to read a book, then go to sleep early and pretend this didn't happen. He _hadn't _promised anything, after all.

And so he did, except he woke randomly in the middle of the night, mostly confused about what had roused him. It certainly hadn't been a nightmare or some sort of physical discomfort.

Blindly, his hand searched for his glasses and, once they were on place, he took his phone. The screen didn't light up when he opened the lid, so he figured the battery might have died at some hour in the night.

_I must have forgotten to charge it._

With a sigh, he got up from bed and went looking for a charger. Eventually he found it on the pocket of his black windbreaker. Not that he remembered how it ended up there.

Suddenly steps echoed down the hall, passing past his bedroom door. At first, he paid no mind, thinking that it was his brother going to the bathroom or something, but then he realized he was talking to someone.

Pressing his ear against the door, he noticed he was on the phone.

_So that's what woke me up._

"Alright, I understand," Shinichi said, in a serious voice. "I will go right away."

_Go? Where would he go this late at night?_

Not even pausing to give it a second thought, he changed out of his pajamas, put on that same windbreaker and quietly left the room. Silently opening the front gate and closing behind his back, he looked around.

He spotted Shinichi walking down the street, a strangely solemn expression fixed on his face. Even thought he had to swear to himself that he was definitely _not _a stalker, Conan pulled his hood over his head and casually followed, making sure to keep his distance.

The teen eventually stopped in a park, and sat on a bench, his hands neatly folded on top of his lap as he waited for something.

_His hands are shaking, _Conan observed while hiding behind a nearby tree. _Why are they shaking?_

Then someone sat beside him. In the darkness of the night, the child didn't manage to see anything but his unnaturally long silver hair, or the fact that he was completely dressed in black, as if he was obsessed with that colour.

Or his terrifyingly cold eyes.

Wordlessly, the man pulled out a picture, which Conan couldn't see from his spot. "The name is Watanabe Satoshi, thirty-two."

Shinichi's eyes barely moved from the picture, yet narrowed slightly. Conan leaned slightly closer, making sure he wouldn't be seen, trying to hear his brother's reaction. Before Shinichi's mouth could open to speak, something else brought his attention away from the scene.

"Hey, kid!" his blood froze, and he spun around. A few meters away from his position, a man was running towards him. "What are you doing?!"

He was big and dressed in black as well. That was all Conan could tell about him, because he darted away at the sight of him. Conan could tell he had started chasing after him, which was more than enough to convince him to move even faster.

At some point, it seemed like he had lost him, but he couldn't be sure.

The darkness was prominent, and he guessed he should be grateful about that ─ fortunately, he was wearing black clothes so he was very hard to spot. On the other hand, however, that man was also dressed in the same colour and he didn't really know if he could spot him in time if he got close to him.

"Where are you, little boy?!" his heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice coming closer. "I'm not going to do anything to you, I promise."

_As if I would believe that!_

He stepped backwards, away from the source of the sound, and his back collided against something hard. It didn't take long to notice the tree standing behind him and an idea pop into his mind.

Having no other choice he grabbed into the lowest branch and pulled himself up, survival instincts taking over and adrenaline pumping through his entire, small body to make him climb quicker.

"Come out," not even a second after he had reached the top, the man entered his visual field.

_Please, don't look up. Please, don't look up. Please, don't look up..._

"I just want to talk."

The way his gun clicked and his lips curved into a sinister smile told the child otherwise, however. Despite it all, he kept perfectly still and held his breath.

In the silence of the night, even the shift of his clothes against the leaves could give away his position.

Even after the man had left, Conan did not move until several minutes later. Only after he was sure the man was away did he, slowly, start to climb down.

Once his feet hit the ground, he took off running.

Conan cursed he had followed his brother so far into town. He needed to get home right now, away from the darkened streets and the sight of those men.

The kid had no idea of how much he ran, yet he didn't stop. And so was his mind ─ running, searching for an answer he wasn't going to find any time soon.

He was confused, more confused than he had ever been in his life. Those people were scary and extremely dangerous. And his brother was involved with them in some way.

Was he...?

_There's no way, _he shut his eyes close and shook his head from side to side, as he kept running. _He would never-!_

His thoughts were cut short when he collided into something, prompting him to fall into his back. Groaning in pain, he massaged his hurting head, and was going to apologize to whoever he had just ran into.

"Hey, watch where you are going-! Wait, it's Conan!"

_That voice! _His eyes opened to see Genta, sitting on the ground right in front of him, surrounded by Mitsuhiko and Ayumi. Conan blinked twice, wondering what they were doing here, until he remembered their plans tonight.

Which he had tried to ignore.

And now there he was, in front of the very same haunted house he certainly didn't want to break in.

_Then again, if those men are still around, staying on plain view could be very dangerous._

"Conan-kun!" Ayumi beamed. "I knew you would come!"

The boy laughed, awkwardly. _Not that I intended to._

But it would be better if he just went along, he decided, even if his heart wouldn't stop pounding. He managed to hid it well, however.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's see what you guys brought," the bigger boy spoke up, waving a bat around. "I brought a metal bat to beat the snot out of those ghosts!"

_Aren't ghosts supposed to be incorporeal...?_

"I brought candies, in case we get hungry," Ayumi smiled, as she held up her bag, filled with sweets and every single cavity-inducing snack anyone could think of.

"I brought flashlights for each of us and a compass so we don't get lost," Mitsuhiko showed his stuff as well.

_Can you really get that lost in a house?_

"What about you, Conan-kun?"

Conan flinched. "I, uh..." he searched through his pockets and pulled the phone he had forgotten he had with him. "I brought my phone."

Ayumi blinked at it. "But, Conan-kun..."

"It's not charged," Mitsuhiko noted.

"I only realized that on my way here."

"It's not our fault if you get killed," Genta scoffed.

_Like any of those things would actually be of any help against a ghost._

"That's right," the girl was concerned. "If you're not careful, you'll be eaten!"

_Do ghosts even have to eat?_

Conan wisely choose to keep all those thoughts to himself as he followed Genta, who claimed to have found a secret entrance. It was weird, he thought, that someone would build a secret entrance, but he quickly shrugged it off.

People could have weird quirks, and his parents were a clear example of it. Most likely, there wasn't any other reason than they just had felt like it.

Still weird, though.

Not giving it any other thought, and giving a brief, last look over his shoulder, he followed the rest inside.

He faintly heard Ayumi complaining something about getting her hands dirty as she crawled past the entrance, but he ignored it. Once inside the property, Genta placed a hand on the handle, and was surprised to find out that the door was unlocked.

Peeking inside, the children realized it was pitch black, and they couldn't really see anything.

"H-Hey," Ayumi took a step back, shaking in fear and voice wavering. "Maybe we should go home..."

"Stupid! We have come this far already," Genta shouted at her. "If you wanna go home, go by yourself."

Conan narrowed his eyes. "That was rather rude," he scolded his classmate. "If Yoshida-san is feeling uncomfortable, you have no right to pressure to her into doing something she doesn't want to do."

"Conan-kun is right," Mitsuhiko joined in and gave Genta a stern look. "You should apologize to her."

The boy looked at the other two for a few seconds, before his head dropped, ashamed by his actions. He turned to Ayumi with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Ayumi," he sighed. "I can walk you home if you want."

"No, it's okay, Genta-kun," she waved her hands in front of her head, frantically. "I was a bit scared at first, but now I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," and then, she smiled brightly. "Because if I'm with you guys there's nothing I fear. You'll protect me, right?"

Both Genta and Mitsuhiko instantly nodded, their faces reddening as a tomato. Conan, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes and walked inside.

_I really shouldn't have said anything._

"Wait, Conan-kun!" Mitsuhiko called.

The kids followed him. As they walked around, they noticed that the mansion looked even creepier from the inside, flashlights waving across the room hoping to not spot something that shouldn't be there.

Conan, however, started to calm down. This place was definitely safer than the streets.

"Hey, it's a place to wash up!" Ayumi chirped when she noticed the bathroom. "Lucky~!"

The boy noticed the girl turning on the tap and was about to tell her that was just _impossible, _but then water actually came out. He stepped up closer and stared as she washed her hands.

Conan opened his mouth and was about to tell them that they needed to _run away. _That this house was definitely _not _abandoned. That someone was living here and...

"Conan-kun?" the girl noticed him standing there, paled faced. "Is something wrong?"

And then he remembered. The silver haired man. The cold look on his eyes. The gun in his partner's hand.

"Don't tell me you..." her eyes widened in fear. "Did you see a ghost?!"

The fact that he was out there, in a park a few blocks from here...

"N-No, it's nothing, Yoshida-san," came his weak response. "Don't worry about it."

And so, he dumbly said nothing about it, hoping against hope that he was only overreacting and there was some sort of mistake considering the tap water. Because it _had_ to be it.

The others were chatting happily, blissfully ignorant of the situation in hand, about them being part of a role-playing game.

"Of course, I'm the knight!" Genta declared, loudly.

"Then, I'm the cute, female warrior!" Ayumi grinned.

"I'm the intelligent magic-user!" Mitsuhiko declared.

Conan just watched at them by the corner of the eye, silently, entertaining the thought for a moment even if he wasn't so fond of video games like those kids were. _Maybe the thief? No, that doesn't sound right. Maybe I would be..._

"And Conan is the villager," Genta pointed at him.

_... Eh?_

"Then I'm not even a part of the party, am I?" he raised an eyebrow.

"But you're an important character who gives us information."

His eye twitched a little bit, but he just sighed and kept walking through the corridor, and soon Genta took the front. It was short lived, however, because the three kids quickly hid behind him when a door suddenly creaked open.

"Hey, hurry up and go check it out, villager!" Genta ushered him.

"Oh, I don't know. I thought I was an NPC," Conan crossed his arms and smirked a little bit. "I think it's the heroes job to check these kind of things."

It was hard to keep himself from laughing when the three kids gulped and looked at each other, hesitantly. Genta was the first one to gather enough courage to see what was going on, the other two cheering from behind. He jumped right inside the room, bat ready to smack the ghost across the head.

He stopped suddenly, blinked a bit, and declared:

"It's just an open window."

Mitsuhiko then explained to the others that was probably the wind that forced the door open, and Ayumi praised him, telling him he sounded like a detective. Conan, just glanced at them, blankly. _He doesn't, really,_ and Mitsuhiko excused himself to the bathroom.

Then, it hit Conan. Instantly after he was kneeling down into the floor, looking for something.

_It's completely dry, _his eyes opened, wide. _It's raining outside. Why isn't it wet?_

And he knew the answer; this window was definitely opened recently. There was no way he could ignore this any longer. They could be in danger.

"We need to leave, now," he stood up, suddenly, startling the other two. "This is dangerous."

"What do you mean, Conan-kun?"

"This house is not abandoned," and then he took out running. "You two get out of here, I will go search for Tsuburaya!"

Before they could reply, the boy was gone. Ayumi and Genta exchanged worried looks, which soon turned into complete horror when they heard a scream. It was Mitsuhiko's voice, without any doubt.`

"Genta-kun, where are you going?!"

Ayumi found herself all alone after that.

Conan just ran faster at the sound, frantically waving his flashlight around. He had panicked when he couldn't find any trace of him on the bathroom. And then, he found himself in an old study; dusty bookshelves and a lone framed photo on the middle of the desk. Curiosity took the best of him and he took a look of it.

It was an old photograph of a family of three; mother, father and the son, all smiling at the camera. He faintly remembered Ayumi telling him about the crime that was committed in this very same house. The man was murdered and the killer was never found, prompting the mother and the son to move somewhere else. _Or did they...?_

But then, Genta's screaming filled his ears and he rushed out, dropping the photo instantly, hoping he didn't hear Ayumi's scream next. It was his fault, all of it. If he hadn't been so dumb, so selfish...

He shook his head. It didn't matter now. He needed to find them.

It didn't took him long to find Ayumi, all alone and frozen in fear in the middle of the corridor. Soon, he realized why she was so terrified; someone was coming.

In a swift motion, Conan ran up to her and pulled her into hiding, hand firmly placed over her mouth so she wouldn't scream. She initially panicked, but then calmed down when she saw him. He didn't move his hand, though.

A woman passed by, pushing a trolley and carrying a candle. Once she left, Conan let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and released the girl.

"I-It's a ghost," she whimpered.

"No, it's a person," he frowned. _Which is worse, actually._

Conan followed after her, Ayumi closely behind him, and peered around the corner. There was no trace of the woman, and the trolley was there, empty and alone. The girl claimed that she really was a ghost, until Conan found a trap door.

Now, the boy didn't know what he was expecting, but a cell room hadn't crossed his mind.

Yet there they were, standing in front of a man, covered in filth and hair so long it seemed like he hadn't cut it in ages. He was weeping so desperately he didn't even take notice of the children.

They heard the woman coming, so they hurried up to hide behind a locker, listening as she pleaded her son to hold on a little more so he could finally be free. He only wailed louder in response, throwing the food she had just brought him away from him.

_I need to call the police, _Conan nodded to himself, silently cursing when he remembered his phone was dead. Through the corner of his eye, however, he noticed a socket in the wall.

_Please, tell me it's still there,_ his hand slid into his other pocket and mentally sighed in relief when he fished out a phone charger.

On the other hand Ayumi, frightened as she was, stepped back, accidentally knocking a broom that was behind her, which he luckily managed to catch with his foot while resting a hand on the locker to keep him himself from losing his balance. That caused, however, the bucket in top of it to fall.

It hit the floor, clanging loudly.

At that moment, Conan knew they were dead.

"It looks like there are more rats in addition to the two from earlier," she heard the woman say. "Come on out. It's no use hiding!"

Conan flinched and then looked at Ayumi. Sighing, he turned to her and placed the phone and the charger on her hands. With a smile, he nodded and stepped out.

Holding back her tears, the girl plugged the phone in.

"Look who's talking," he smirked at her, praying in his mind that it didn't look like he was forcing it. He hoped he was hiding well the fact that he was _terrified, _especially when he spotted the very sharp knife the woman was holding.

At her confused gaze, he explained everything. The crime that the son had committed five years ago, and the fact that she was hiding his son so he wouldn't go to prison. By the corner of the eye, he spotted Ayumi, phone on hand, letting the police hear Conan's explanation over the phone so she didn't have to talk and give herself away. Good.

"W-Who are you?!" she screamed.

"Edogawa Conan," he shrugged. "Just an elementary school student."

When the grip on the knife tightened, the boy flinched. Closing his eyes and sighing deeply, he accepted his fate.

If the police was coming there was a chance Ayumi could be saved.

That was enough for him.

"So you hid your son inside the basement of this very same house, the old house in the 4-chrome area," he made sure to get the police to hear where they were. "Because, your husband's killer is none other than-"

"Shut up... SHUT UP!"

One moment later he was five feet off the ground, air knocked off his lungs as he hit the wall, the woman was painfully digging her nails on his shoulder while keeping him on place, on her eye level. There was a wild look on her eyes.

She raised her knife and he knew it was over.

He heard Ayumi scream and he felt her grip on him weakening. Conan then spotted the girl behind the woman, the broom in her hands, and he understood it ─ she had hit her in the head.

Her child's strength was not enough to knock a full-grown woman out, he knew, but it was enough of a shock to let him grab into the woman's arm and kick the knife away from her grasp.

Once released, he ran up to Ayumi and the two looked, terrified, back at the woman. She was going to kill them, but stopped when her son pleaded her not to.

The man broke out crying.

And Conan sighed. He could hear the sirens outside.


	4. The Roller Coaster Murder Case

**File Four: The Roller Coaster Murder Case**

It was daylight already when they headed outside.

Conan said nothing as he tugged the security blanket, which the kind police officer had just laid over his shoulders, closer to him and watched as the three kids were loudly scolded by their parents, who had come after the police called them to pick the children up.

The police had already asked Conan and he had secretly given them his own number after turning off his phone.

He could've given them his brother's number, but he didn't want to. Not until he figured out what he had been doing last night, hanging around with those scary men.

"It seems they turned it off," the officer sighed and mumbled something about irresponsible parents, which he ignored. "Do you know anybody else we can call?"

Conan shook his head and gave him the most innocent face he could pull off. "Can't I just go home?"

The policeman ruffled his hair. "Okay, I will take you there. Just give me a moment."

And the man left to talk to one of his colleagues. When he went back, he only saw a blanket, dropped carelessly in the ground.

"Hey, the kid is gone!"

* * *

"I'm home," the child called while he entered his house, only to be met with silence.

_He still isn't home, _he thought, concern shaping his features.

Absentmindedly he turned the TV on and, unlike other kids that would put some action filled anime or movie, he settled on the news. He glanced at the time on the corner of the screen.

_It's seven in the morning._

Conan sat on the sofa, going through last night on his mind, including his little adventure with his classmates. The boy's hand clenched around the remote.

He had put it them in danger. He should have said something. _Anything._

His eyes suddenly opened, bringing him out of his thoughts. There, on bright red letters it read:

_Fire in Ekoda Hospital_

It shouldn't have bothered that much, really. While upsetting, these kind of events were not uncommon. Just one mistake and an entire building could blow up.

Except that, somehow, there wasn't many casualties, besides one. The head doctor hadn't had such a luck and now he was dead, body charred beyond recognition.

A chill ran down Conan's back when the reporter spoke.

"The victim's name was Watanabe Satoshi."

And then he was cold, very cold, so much that he had to rub his arms with his hands. Conan noticed he was shaking, but he wasn't sure if it was from the chilly environment or the upsetting feeling on the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, Conan, you're up early," the kid was startled at the voice. He jumped, turning his head to the doorway. "It's Saturday, you don't have school."

There stood Shinichi, wearing the same clothes he saw him in the night before and he noticed the teen was carrying some plastic bags.

The brother was blinking puzzledly at the boy who, for some unknown reason, seemed to grow paler and paler as time went by, and stepped closer to him.

Confusion shifted into concern when he reached with his hand to give him a friendly pat on the top of his head and Conan flinched away, without fully meaning to.

"Did you have another nightmare?"

The youngest didn't really know how to react. Faintly he could hear the TV reporter talking about the weather, and he was glad beyond words for the change of topic.

"Where did you go?" he glanced at the bags. "You're awfully early, as well."

"I forgot to change my alarm and it went off," he sighed. "So I decided that, since that I was wide awake like an owl, I would go buy some stuff we were out of," he raised the bag for him to see. "Like eggs, for example."

Conan looked inside the bags for a few moments, before taking the one with the eggs with him, towards the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Shinichi asked as he walked after him.

"Pancakes," he said, his voice plain. "Starving."

The elder one smiled, content to watch the other going around the kitchen.

He had already gotten over the shock of finding out that Conan could manage himself much better than he did, and that included being able to cook half-decently. When he had asked him where he learnt that, he had said he had read about it somewhere.

Shinichi figured out it was due to necessity ─ neither his father nor himself were actually proficient in the art of cooking, to say the least. It wasn't so farfetched to imagine a younger Conan taking on cooking all of his own because he had to eat ramen soup for the fifth time that week, all because his mother was in another month-long trip with her friends.

Conan had admitted not having any idea of how did Shinichi manage to survive without having the sightless clue of how to cook, and joking about this being the true reason their mother sent the kid to Japan. He had suggested that it was to take care of his older brother and not the other way around.

"_It's just chemistry," _he had said once. "_It's not that hard, really."_

And the worst part? He couldn't completely disagree. Even if Conan was only a first grader who shouldn't even have a clue of what the word 'chemistry' meant.

Soon, it was done. Conan set two plates of fresh made pancakes on the table, and looked at his brother, who had busied himself in the kitchen. "It's done, Aniki," he called over his shoulder as he sat.

"Just a moment."

Then he came, with two steamy mugs on his hands and set one beside Conan's plate. The boy peered inside, curiously, and was taken away. "Coffee?" he blinked. "I thought you said it wasn't good for me."

"It's just for today, don't get used to it," he said, taking one sip at his own mug.

Conan was silently looking at the coffee, a pensive look on his face. The report he saw on TV about Ekoda Hospital was still fresh on his mind, as well as the cold blooded look that man in black from the other night had on his eyes. Not to say the gun the one chasing him had held on his hand.

It was too much to take, and it terrified him.

He didn't even know what he was supposed to think.

"It's cold, you know," Conan looked up at him, noticing that he was pouting a bit. "You're six. I'm supposed to be Shinichi-niichan or Onii-san to you, like it would be to other children your age. Why am I stuck with Aniki?"

"Oh, I see," there was something on his eyes that made him look childish, mischievous even. "I can call you Shinichi-dono if you want to."

"That's... to be expected, but certainly not what I had in mind."

"Or Shinichi-jiisan."

"Hey..."

"Shinichi-baka."

As his brother loudly complained and whined something about respecting his elders, Conan burst out laughing. He drank from the coffee his brother had prepared for him and couldn't help but feel all warm from inside.

And there was simply no way his brother could have done something like that, he decided, as he looked at the cup with a rather gentle smile on his lips.

Watanabe Satoshi was a pretty common and plain name, Conan naively convinced himself. It could have been anyone.

_... Right?_

And for almost an entire year, nothing happened.

* * *

It was December already.

Conan quietly made his way inside the classroom, and felt relieved when he found it empty.

_Looks like I'm early._

And he was glad he was, truly. He set his bag beside his seat and pulled out a book, while thanking the small mercies of life, such as spending a hopefully peaceful morning reading in silence until _they _arrived and flipped the entire room upside down.

"Good morning, Conan-kun!"

Mentally groaning, he shifted his gaze from his copy of _The Valley of Fear _to Ayumi's bright blue eyes. He didn't even need to turn around to know that Mitsuhiko and Genta were also there, burning holes on the back of his head.

"You guys are pretty early today," he said suddenly, not even bothering to greet her back.

_Awfully early, _considering he hadn't even have the chance to read one single sentence.

"That's right!" she nodded, energetically. "We noticed we never got the chance to hang out with you, so we decided to come early so we could play before school!" the girl glanced at her other two friends. "Right?"

"Yeah..." was their reply. Still glaring.

Conan could not help but to let out a dry chuckle. While it might have been true for Ayumi, it seemed like the other two had just tagged along because of her.

To be honest, sometimes he wondered how come the girl hadn't yet noticed the huge crush the two males had for her. Or the nonexistent one Conan had for her in turn, for that matter.

The three kids fell back into a friendly chat and didn't even notice Conan focusing back to his book, a faint scowl out of annoyment present on his face. That was it, until his phone vibrated in his pocket.

With a tired sigh, he pulled it out.

"_I have a school project to work on with Ran and Sonoko. _

_Will be home by dinner._

_ ─ Shinichi."_

He would have raised an eyebrow, had his brother been able to see him.

"Hey, Conan-kun," Ayumi called over him, causing the boy to glance curiously at her. "We were planning to go to Tropical Land together later today. Would you like to come?"

"Sorry," he smiled at her, apologetically, putting the phone down and returning to his book. "I can't make it."

"Eh? Why?"

"I have some homework to do."

"Do you?" Genta crossed his arms over his chest. "You can do it before you go."

"We have seen you," Mitsuhiko narrowed his eyes at him. "The other week, you did it at homeroom. It barely took you five seconds."

"You always say the same thing every single time we try to invite you to do something," Ayumi pouted at him. "Come on, Conan-kun! I promise it will be fun."

Conan stared blankly at his classmates, before glancing at Ayumi's big pleading eyes for a second. "Sorry, guys," he turned back to his book and flipped the page over.

The boy didn't say anything else, even after hearing Ayumi's disheartened sigh. Honestly, Conan _did _feel a little bad for disappointing her so badly, but he couldn't help it.

Not when the events of eight months ago, at the mansion, still haunted him to this day. At that time, he had put them through terrible danger because of his own mistakes. Because fear had overcome him.

What was there to say he wouldn't do it again?

Besides, if he tried to befriend them, they would start to notice. They would eventually see him for who he was and then, everything would go the same way it did before with kids of his own age.

Conan failed understand, however, why those kids still kept trying to befriend him, after almost an entire year of rejection from his part.

_Maybe they will just give up this time around._

It wasn't long until he realized he was terribly wrong.

After school, he had decided to drop by Professor Agasa's house to spend the evening until his brother came back home. It hadn't been five seconds since he had dropped his things on Agasa's table, to do his homework like any self-respecting elementary student would do, when the doorbell rang.

"Conan, could you answer the door for me?" said Agasa from his place behind the computer.

"Okay," Conan hopped off his chair and went to the door and stood up on his tiptoes to peek through the peephole.

He froze on his spot when he saw Ayumi standing there, grinning widely as she chatted with Mitsuhiko. Just as he was trying to silently back off, Genta's eye covered Conan's entire view.

"Hey, Conan, I know you are here!" the boy yelled at him. "We heard Professor Agasa calling your name, so you better open up or else-"

Before the kid could finish his sentence, however, he stumbled forward as the door was suddenly open for him. After regaining his balance, he glared at Conan.

The smaller boy, in turn, just stood beside him, giving the entire group a blank look.

"So?" his voice was plain. "What do you guys want?"

"We're picking you up," Ayumi had a determined look on her eyes. "Let's go to Tropical Land, together."

"I already told you I couldn't go."

"We we'll wait until you finish everything you have to do," the girl walked forward, taking her shoes off without waiting for Conan to welcome her inside.

"Then, we're coming in," Mitsuhiko did the same, nodding politely at the boy as he came in. Genta's shoes were off in an instant, as well.

_These guys... _Conan groaned and massaged his temples when he saw his classmates cheerfully greeting Agasa and sitting on the couch, as if they owned the place, talking and laughing loudly as they did.

Ah, he knew this was coming. He could already feel the beginning of a massive headache.

"But you know, I really, _really _can't go," Conan gave them the best apologetic smile he could pull off. "I don't have any money on me and Aniki is going to be home late, so I can't ask him give me some. So, let's leave it for another time, okay?"

The three kids just sighed, heavily, having expected such an outcome. Agasa, on the other hand, hummed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Give me a second," he then stood up.

He just blinked at the old man as he shuffled through some drawers, until he finally found whatever he was looking for. Agasa then went back to the boy and placed something on his hands.

His eyebrow started to twitch when he noticed he had just been given money.

"But Professor, I-!"

"You can tell Shinichi to pay me back tomorrow," he smiled at him. "Just don't worry about it and have some fun with your friends, okay?"

He reluctantly nodded back at him. _That bastard... He's doing it on purpose, isn't he?_

"Isn't that great, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhiko grinned.

"Yay! Let's go, let's go!" Ayumi jumped off the couch.

"Hurry up, Conan," Genta called as they started to run for the door.

"Yeah..."

And suddenly forgetting they had promised to wait for Conan to finish his homework, they started to put back on his shoes. The boy sighed for the eleventh time this day and, after giving the professor a silent glare, he went to fetch his stuff to leave with them.

* * *

If Conan had been told to describe how he was feeling in one single word, it would most likely be _drained. _

Throughout the entire day the boy had been dragged to almost every single attraction. From scary houses to roller coasters and even to a nearby candy store for some snacks.

And while the attractions weren't that out of this world, keeping up with these kids was simply exhausting.

"That was really fun!" Ayumi, however, was radiant.

"It's definitely not good for the heart," Mitsuhiko sighed, tiredly. Apparently, the haunted house had been to much for him and Genta to bear.

Mentally, Conan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Overall, while the experience could have been worse, it could've also been _much _better than it was. The setting had been poorly made and disguises they had worn looked terribly cheap. It was also so predictable that he could easily know when something was about to jump.

"We should go home..." Genta mumbled.

Conan perked up at that.

"Come to think of it, it's a bit late, isn't it?" he commented, hoping that the other the other two would agree.

"Just one more!" Ayumi pleaded. "The Mystery Coaster should be okay, right?"

"Ayumi-chan, we only have enough money for the return fare home," Mitsuhiko told her.

And the shortest boy wished she just accepted defeat and headed back home, but she didn't. Instead, Ayumi told them to leave everything to her.

Leading them to the current predicament. The four children were now standing in front of a hole, big enough for them to pass through. Conan only blinked for a second, frozen on his spot, when he saw Ayumi trying to climb up.

"Hey, hey, wait a second," he held her by the shoulders. "You can't just do that!"

"Eh? Why?"

"See that man over there?" he motioned to the guard standing in front of the entrance, a few meters far from their group. "We aren't out of his visual field. There's is a big chance he will see us and catch us if we try to get inside just like that."

Ayumi just nodded at him, dejectedly. Soon, the kid felt his personal bubble popping, as the other two boys walked surrounded him. Genta's hand has grasping his shirt.

"What should we do, Conan?"

"At this rate, Ayumi-chan..."

He, in turn, glanced to the girl. Her eyes were starting to water up.

"Even if your say so, I don't-" he smiled, nervously.

"Please, Conan-kun!"

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "Just... Just stay put."

Like so, he started to walk away. As he walked closer to the guard, the child couldn't help but wonder why was he doing this, instead of relaxing on his couch back home, reading.

"Excuse me, sir," he ran towards the man and stopped right in front of him. "Can you help me?"

The adult, in turn, kneeled down in front of him. "What's wrong, boy?" he asked, kindly.

"I can't find my mother anywhere!" he whined. "I'm scared! I want to go home!"

"H-Hey," the man panicked a bit, not wanting the kid to get anymore upset and start crying like most lost children did. "I will help you find her. Now, where did you last see her?"

"Will you? Thank you!" Conan grinned widely and grabbed the guard's hand. "Here, here. This way!"

* * *

"It has been a long while..." Mitsuhiko commented, as he peeked over from the crate in the wall. "I wonder if Conan-kun has been caught or something."

"He probably just went home," Genta huffed, as the other boy walked away from his spot and sat beside his friends. "I wouldn't be surprised if he just left us here by ourselves."

"You're wrong!" Ayumi yelled at him, angrily. "Conan-kun isn't like that. Remember that time at the mansion?"

"That is a bit different, Ayumi-chan," Mitsuhiko commented. "At that time, we were in real danger."

"Besides, that was one time in this whole year," Genta sighed. "What do we actually know about him?"

"Well, I..."

To be fair, Ayumi actually knew virtually nothing about Conan. Not that she hadn't tried to; of course the girl had done everything in her power to befriend the young boy.

The feeling wasn't mutual, it seemed, as the kid had done his best to avoid spending time with her and her friends. None of them had tried to give up, and for eight long months, this kept on.

And his attempts had only grown more obvious after their little adventure on the not-so-abandoned house.

At some point, Mitsuhiko had asked her why was she still trying. At that time, she had just shrugged and brushed the question off by walking faster, claiming that they were going to be late for school.

She had even wondered if she should just leave him be.

Until she had spotted him there, on his seat, nose stuck in a book, yet eyes glancing away from the pages. It had been brief, however. The boy had focused back to his novel as soon as he noticed the slip.

But it had been long enough for her to put two and two together.

Back then, he had been watching a group of children playing cards with each other, laughing loudly.

Yet, Conan's eyes...

_They looked... sad,_ Ayumi remembered.

"Sorry for the wait," suddenly, a voice said behind them.

The three kids turned around to see Conan, who was currently climbing down the crate. He briefly brushed the dust off his clothes and joined the group.

For a few moments, none said anything, just stared, until Genta decided to break the silence.

"What took you so long, Conan?!" he reprimanded him. "We thought you weren't coming."

"I led the guard to the other side of the park," the shorter boy huffed. "I had to take a longer path around this entire place so he wouldn't spot me on my way back."

"It doesn't matter," the girl chirped, happily. "Come on, let's go. This way!"

Conan should had known better than to let Ayumi have her way, really. If he knew that it would lead him to walk aimlessly in a dark tunnel for almost half an hour, he would've happily bid goodbye to them already.

"Now what do we do?" Genta complained to her.

"From here we should be able to get in the line," Ayumi explained, with a bright smile.

"I don't see it," Mitsuhiko voiced.

"Of course you don't see it," Conan sighed, sliding his hands inside his pockets, a bored expression on his face. "We're lost, after all."

"L-Lost?!" the other two males shrieked, panicking.

"We have been walking non-stop for thirty minutes now. Considering how big this place is, we should have already reached the line more than twenty minutes ago," he then turned to face the kids. "In other words, we're lost."

"It can't be..." the girl visibly defeated. "What should we do?"

The most sensible thing to do was probably going back from where they came and finally go home, Conan thought absentmindedly. For a moment, he entertained that idea as he let his gaze wonder toward the rails. Then he glanced at the kids and their downcast expression.

His eyes softened a bit.

_They had really been looking forward this..._

The kids watched as he quietly stepped back, moving from their field of sight, and they let out a defeated sigh. Their surprise was big, however, when they turned around.

Instead of going towards the exit, Conan sat on the ground, his back resting against the wall. For a moment, they didn't have any idea of what to think of it, and just blinked, cluelessly.

And the other boy seemed to understand their confusion, if the way he sighed, exasperatedly, was something to go by.

"The roller coaster is going to pass by here any minute now. If we wait and see which way it's heading to, we can figure out which way to go and follow the rails until we reach the entrance."

"O-Oh!" Mitsuhiko was the first to wake up from his stupor. "You're right!"

"So clever!" the girl giggled. "As expected from you, Conan-kun!"

Conan let out a forced chuckle, as he scratched the back of his head. It wasn't that _clever, _really, they could've figured this on their own if they had actually bothered to look around.

He didn't say any of that, though, and decided to just entertain himself by watching the three of them sitting in a circle as they waited for the rollercoaster to pass by, chatting cheerfully among themselves.

"It's coming!" at some point Genta suddenly jumped on his feet, turning to the roller coaster. "We were going the opposite way all along!"

As the roller coaster passed by the group, the children saw something falling with a loud thud a few feet away from them. Telling them to stay put where they were, Conan stepped closer.

It was too dark to see clearly, but he was pretty sure he was standing in front of a severed head.

Ayumi felt something hitting her foot, so she leaned over to see what it seemed to be... pearls? Just as she was about to pick one up to see more clearly, Conan stopped her.

"Don't touch it. You'll contaminate the crime scene."

"Crime scene...?" Mitsuhiko's face went pale. "Don't tell me, Conan-kun, that the thing beside your feet..."

"Yeah, don't come any closer," there was a look of disgust on his eyes. "It's gross."

The three kids looked at each other, obviously frightened at the prospect. Only Ayumi was brave enough to step closer to the boy, hands clenched on top of her chest.

"Maybe we should go before we get into trouble," Ayumi suggested, timidly.

"No, we need to stay right here," Conan told her. "We're witnesses, after all."

Without saying another word, the children sat down, as far away from the head as they could, while Conan simply walked around, examining every piece of evidence as he could.

When he was finished, he collected all the pearls in a napkin.

Soon, the sound of police cars filled the silence. They tensed a bit.

"Wait, you guys..." a voice sounded through the darkness, and the three kids jumped.

"W-We didn't come in without paying money!" Mitsuhiko hurriedly said, earning a hit on the top of his head by Genta.

"Can you be more obvious?" Conan sighed, as he walked closer and then stopped in front of the person. He looked at him and paused.

They blinked at each other for a few seconds, until the taller one gasped.

"Conan?!"

"The one and only," he smirked at his older brother in reply, before handing him the pearls he had just picked up. "Here, the murder weapon. He was probably decapitated using a pearl necklace, right?" the child then turned around and pointed at somewhere in the darkness. "The severed head is over there, if you want to see it."

"I pass, thank you," Shinichi replied, rather quickly.

Conan shook his head at him, before turning back to his classmates and paused. They were all looking at him, then at Shinichi, and back at him with a dumbstruck expression on their faces.

"What?" he hissed, annoyed.

"Isn't that Kudo Shinichi-san, the renowned highschool detective?" Ayumi asked, slowly. Conan and Shinichi nodded, in sync, and the girl turned to the short boy. "Then, why did he know your name, Conan-kun?"

"... Maybe because he is my brother?"

The three gasped.

"Your brother?!" Ayumi shouted.

"You two _do _look alike," Mitsuhiko pointed out.

"But you're Edogawa!" Genta pointed at him.

"You guys have been in my house before," more like _stalked_ him, but it was close enough. "Haven't you actually bothered to read it said '_Kudo_'?"

They looked at each other, and shrugged. Conan couldn't resist the urge to slap himself, hard, while Shinichi chuckled at little bit.

"If people knew about this it would cause a bit of trouble for Conan here. He doesn't really enjoy the attention," Conan's eyebrow twitched when his older brother placed a hand over his head, ruffled his hair a bit and winked at the rest. "Can I trust you with my little brother's big secret?"

And when they nodded, enthusiastically, the younger Kudo wished he was back home.


	5. The Disappearing Detective Case

**File Five: The Disappearing Detective Case **

The four kids patiently sat on a bench close to the murder scene, right where Shinichi had told them to wait. Conan had his arms crossed over his chest with an annoyed look on his face, which did not go unnoticed by the others, who exchanged concerned looks.

_We were witnesses and we saw the murder taking place, _the boy was deep in thought. _He was pretty serious... and a bit desperate? It was like he was pleading us to stay away._

But why was that? There was no way they could turn into suspects because they were only kids and they weren't on the ride. Was there something he didn't want them to see? Or someone?

_Or someone he doesn't want to see us...?_

"Shinichi-oniisan!"

Ayumi's excited voice brought him back to the real world, and he raised his head to see Ran and Shinichi, standing in front of them. The female teen was grinning widely at him, and Conan could only nod with a smile, greeting her.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Conan-kun?" Ran asked.

_Classmates. We're not friends,_ he had to refrain himself from correcting her.

"These are Kojima Genta, Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko and Yoshida Ayumi-san," he glanced at the kids. "She's Mouri Ran-neechan. And you know who that one is already."

Conan pointedly ignored the glare Shinichi sent his way. The other kids beamed at Ran, and she smiled kindly in return, before turning around. Her eyes fixed into a nearby shop.

"Do you guys want some ice cream?" she offered.

"Ran-neechan, I don't think that's a good idea..." Conan tried to stop her, glancing at Genta from the corner of his eye. The other children cheered.

"Don't worry about it, Conan-kun, Shinichi will pay me back later," ignoring the way Shinichi groaned, she asked the brothers. "What do you guys want?"

"Coffee," Shinichi replied.

"Co..." Ran gave him a stern look and Conan winced. "... Chocolate is okay to me."

The girl smiled at him, sweetily, and began walking towards the ice cream store, Conan's classmates following close behind like hungry sharks, while the boy in question chose to remain seated.

His brother dropped beside him. The two sighed, loudly, in perfect synchrony.

"Tired?" Shinichi asked, a bit amused, and the child nodded. "I'm surprised you agreed to come with them to a place like this."

"I got dragged into it and Professor Agasa didn't help," Conan's head dropped. "And by the way, he lent me some money and expects you to pay him up."

Shinichi groaned again, exhausted. He wondered if he should get a part time job, as it seemed like his allowance wasn't going to last long.

"And by the way, was your school project about roller coasters and scary houses?" Shinichi flinched, not failing to notice the teasing grin the youngest had on his face as he looked around, as if searching for something. "Also, where is Sonoko-neechan? I don't see her anywhere."

The kid watched as his brother blushed and looked away, before glancing towards the group. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko were happily chatting with Ran as they waited while Genta seemed to be content to sing about ice cream. His eyes then focused on the older girl's eyes and noticed it.

"Luckily they didn't get to see anything disturbing," Conan said, and his brother instantly understood he was talking about the murder. "But Ran-neechan seems to still be pretty upset."

"She was crying until now," he replied. "I couldn't get her to stop."

Conan hummed in response. Ayumi had gotten a strawberry ice-cream and Mitsuhiko had chosen vanilla. Genta's had so many flavours that he couldn't possibly identify all of them. _They are going to make a big dent on his wallet._

Ran handed the little girl a second ice cream, chocolate this time. Conan figured out it was his.

"The murderer was so dumb, though," Shinichi complained. "That trick was so simple that it wasn't even a challenge, you know."

"It's not a game," the older boy glanced at the younger and froze. There was something burning with anger behind his eyes, yet at the same time was cold, freezing even. "Someone just got killed today."

Shinichi said nothing.

The tension was thick, and it remained like that even when Ran came back, a coffee ice cream for the detective and a lemon sorbet for herself, with the children tailing behind. The silence was filled with children laugher and random conversations, but none of the brothers said a word.

At least until it was time to go. Shinichi was about to tell Ran to go home without him, because he would walk Conan, but he told him:

"I will stay the night at Kojima's."

The four left right after that.

Genta tapped Conan on the shoulder and told him that he hadn't asked his mother if he could stay, but the boy shook his head.

"That was a lie. I'm just going home."

His classmates didn't understand at first, but then Ayumi looked over her shoulder. Ran and Shinichi were talking with each other, and for some reason the female was blushing a bit. The young girl smiled to herself, and continued her way back home.

Meanwhile, Ran watched as the group of children walked away with a smile on her face.

"They are good children," she commented. "I'm glad. I was a bit worried about Conan-kun."

But when she looked at Shinichi she noticed that here was a look of sadness she almost never saw him wearing, and she grew concerned about it.

"He does really hate me, doesn't he?" he said, softly, mostly to himself.

"Huh? What makes you think that?"

"He's lying about staying at that kid's house," he explained, forcing a dry laugh. "He just wants to go home without me."

Shinichi sighed, tiredly, and went to sit down once again. He looked at Ran, noticing her fidgeting, nervously, for some reason, and blinked.

"I-I think that isn't the reason he lied," Ran stuttered.

"Huh? Why was that, then?"

The girl did not say anything, just flushed, embarrassed because something that not even the detective could figure out. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he felt his phone vibrating on his pocket.

The teen pulled it out and his eyes opened, widely.

Ran was confused when he stood up and took off running.

"Sorry, Ran, can you go home without me?"

"Eh? Wait!"

As the girl watched the boy running away, going farther and farther away from her, she couldn't help the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

It was weird and bad, very bad, like...

_... like I will never see Shinichi again..._

* * *

The phone was ringing.

Blinking his eyes open, the kid moved the book on his face and slid out the sofa he had just been napping on. On his way to the phone, he grabbed his mobile phone and flipped it open.

He had texted his brother a few hours ago, telling him to buy some rice on his way back because their refrigerator was empty and he couldn't really cook anything, but he had yet to reply.

Conan picked up, but before he could say anything, a female voice shouted in his ear.

"SHINCHI!" the boy had to yank the phone away from his ear in pain. "What did you think you were doing, leaving me all alone like that?! And, at the top of that, why aren't you answering my calls-?!"

"Ran-neechan...?"

Ran paused, not expecting to hear the youngest Kudo on the other side of the phone. She was about to apologize for shouting at him, when she heard a shuddering breath.

For a long moment, he didn't say anything.

"Conan-kun?"

"Ran-neechan... Isn't Shinichi-niichan with you?"

Then it dawned on her. Shinichi hadn't returned home, leaving Conan all alone in his home. And if the sound of his shaky voice was something to go by, the child was scared. Even so, that he hadn't yet realized he had called him Shinichi-niichan.

The boy was unusually cold with his brother, for reasons she couldn't hope to understand. That's why hearing him call his older brother's name with that childish and very confused voice truly upsetted her.

"No, he left suddenly," she said, then quickly added. "But don't worry about it. He probably is in some sort of case, that mystery freak."

Conan barely registered Ran asking him if he had eaten something ─ to which he whispered 'no'. He faintly remembered her telling him she was going to be right over so she could take him to her home before setting the phone back on the receiver.

He just stared blankly at the mobile phone on the floor, which had slipped from fingers gone weak when he had realized that Shinichi wasn't with Ran.

Cold eyes. Silver hair. The gun. Black as crows. It all came back suddenly, and he felt a chill running down his back. _This bad feeling..._

The child was still deep in thought when he opened the door for her, and he remained like that when she held his hand, tightly, and started walking to her home. And he was quiet, very quiet, throughout the trip.

He finally looked up when the girl stopped, right in front of a building with big letters that read '_Mouri's Detective Agency.'_

"We're here, Conan-kun," her voice was soft and gentle as she kneeled down in front of him so she was at an eye-level with the child. "I'll make something to eat real quick. Hold on for a little longer, okay?"

There was a weak nod. That was enough for Ran to stand up and guide him upstairs. Before he could give a step ahead, however, a grown man rushed right past them, then tripped and fell into his face.

_Isn't that Ran-neechan's father?_

"The first job in six months! A rich man's daughter has been kidnapped!" he told Ran, excitedly, not even noticing Conan standing beside her. "The witness said that the kidnapper was a man in black!"

_... A man in black?!_

He didn't even give it a second thought and just ran inside the taxi, a shocked Ran jumping inside after him. Only then did Kogoro notice the kid and loudly asked what he was doing there. Conan, in turn, didn't reply, making him angrier.

"He just came in on his own!" she shouted back at him, before glancing at the child. She figured the kid was just curious and wanted to see a detective work by himself.

_Just like Shinichi._

The case had nothing to do with the mysterious men in black, at the end. In fact, the only thing he managed to do was to get frustrated over the fact that the detective couldn't ask the right questions, and that nobody would actually listen to him because he was only a kid.

It wasn't until he had almost gotten eaten by a dog twice his size, then befriended him that they did pay attention to him. He was told that the pet wasn't very friendly by outsiders.

"Really?" he said, in the most innocently sweet voice he could muster. "Then, why didn't he bark when Tani-san was kidnapped?"

As he had expected, it turned out the only witness, the butler, had kidnapped the girl himself. He claimed she was safe in a nearby restaurant. _Who leaves a little girl alone in a restaurant this late in the night?!_

Then, there was a call. The girl had been kidnapped a second time by another individual. The girl screamed, telling them she was in a school storage, where she could see a black chimney, before they hung up abruptly.

The adults started discussing what they should do, while Conan grabbed his phone and started looking into a map.

_If we don't hurry up, they will change locations, and then... _he frowned. _What would you do, high school detective, Shinichi-niichan?_

He looked up at the dog and got his answer. Then, he did the most reckless thing he had ever done in his short life; he climbed the dog and soon he was gone. He went through every single school that met those requirements, but no luck. Until he realized that there was a building that _could _be seen as a chimney from another perspective. And there was a school.

_Bingo._

That was where she was. As soon as he saw his owner's captor, the dog attacked the criminal. Conan rushed to the girl and took the tape off her mouth.

"Who are you?" she asked, confused.

"Edogawa Conan," he turned around and went to untie her. "I was looking for you, Tani-san."

Before he could finish, the kidnapper, after kicking the dog away from him, grabbed Conan by the hood of his shirt and flung him around, painfully hitting the wall. He watched with narrowed eyes as the man walked closer to him, bat ready to beat the life out of him, when a kick on his face stopped him from doing so.

And he saw Ran, breathing out with a karate stance. _Amazing, _now he understood why his brother was so afraid of making her angry. He almost felt bad about the criminal, seeing him lying on the ground, in a weird position.

Honestly, he felt bad about Shinichi too. Considering how mad she had sounded when he first picked up the phone, he figured his brother would be in serious trouble when he came back.

It turned out it was the girl herself the mastermind behind the first kidnapping, all because his father wasn't giving her enough attention. The father realized his mistakes, and ordered the butler to book them a trip to Australia. Just like that, the case was solved.

Of course Kogoro took all the credit, even if he did virtually nothing to solve the case.

Conan didn't really mind, actually. All he had done was simple reasoning and not entirely detective work. He hadn't even managed to catch the criminal.

But as they left, the little girl turned around and looked right into Conan's eyes.

"Thank you, Detective-san!"

And that truly surprised him.

He didn't think much of it and went home with Ran and her father. She explained to him that she was taking him in for the night because his sorry excuse of a brother ─ as Ran had kindly put it ─ was off somewhere in a case. He had agreed, claiming that he didn't mind him staying as long as he wanted.

"He might be my lucky charm! I'll even take him as my son if he wants to stay!"

_It's only for one night, _he let out a dry laugh in response.

Yet Shinichi didn't return the next day. Or the other. Like so, Conan ended up living in Ran's house for two entire days, without a word from his missing brother.

He was now in Professor Agasa's home, lying down on his sofa as he talked with him.

"It has been two days," the child said to him. "Maybe we should call the police."

"He must be on another strange case," the old man smiled at him. "Don't worry, he'll return soon."

Conan was highly unconvinced, but nodded anyway, visually worried about the teen. He was surprised, however, when the professor told him to try on his newest invention.

It looked like a simple bow tie, like he liked to wear from time to time, but when he turned it around he discovered it wasn't a normal one.

It changed his voice when he spoke close to it. _This could come in handy, _he was about to give it back to him but Agasa told him to keep it and to have fun with it. He didn't give it much thought and just nodded, thanking him and telling him he needed to go back to Ran's.

Agasa watched as Conan closed the door and let out a long sigh.

"_If one day,something happens to me, you have to promise me two things," _he remembered that conversation he had with the detective exactly eight months ago, around the time Conan had arrived at Japan. "_One, don't tell the police. And two... Please, protect Conan."_

Agasa recalled being worried and anxious for a few weeks after that, but hadn't asked any further, fearing what the answer would be. Nowadays, however, he wondered if he should've been braver. He should had asked, he should had _said _anything.

But he trusted the teen and would fulfill that promise, even if he had too keep Ran, Conan and the police in the dark. Even if he had to create weird inventions on a daily basis for a crazy, seven year-old kid to keep him safe and protected from harm.

Sometimes, though, he wondered.

_Is this the right thing to do, Shinichi?_

* * *

Two days quickly became three.

On the third day he had decided that enough was enough and tried going back to Topical Land to gather more information ─ skipping school in the process ─ yet came back empty handed.

"I'm home," Conan called as he entered, only to find himself face to face with a very angry Ran, who glared at him with her hands firmly placed on her waist.

"What were you doing, young man?" she scolded him, her voice firm and stern. "I got a call from Kobayashi-sensei. She said you didn't show up to school this morning."

The little boy cringed a bit, _I forgot to call my school, _he had planned to call his own school using Agasa's new invention to copy Ran's voice, but he was so caught up on his investigation that it hadn't cross his mind. As a result, he was forced to listen a fifteen minute-long rant about responsibilities and the importance of education for his future.

"So, will you tell me where were you instead of school?" she finally said, once she had finished her lecture.

"I..." Conan sighed, letting his head drop, and realizing there was no way out of it. "I went to Tropical Land."

Ran's eyes softened. "Who was there with you?" and the child shook his head as an answer.

"I went alone," for a moment, it was quiet. The silence was broken when Conan finally decided to look up. "... I'm sorry."

"Just don't do it again, okay?" she smiled at him. "I'll let it slide, just this time."

Conan nodded and silently walked by her, towards his and Kogoro's room. He stopped in his tracks when Ran turned around and called his name. There was a kind smile on her face, even if tears were collecting on her eyes.

"He will be back before you know it. Don't worry about it, okay?"

He couldn't say anything even if he wanted to ─ his throat had closed up on him. Conan just left, without uttering a word to the girl who had brought him to her home. He just sat on his futon, staring at the window with a longing expression on his face.

Even if he desperately wished he could, he couldn't bring himself to believe Ran's words.

Because it didn't seem like she believed them herself.

The rest of that afternoon went by uneventfully, with Conan reading a book at Kogoro's room while he 'worked', even though he was actually watching Okino Yoko's videos on the TV.

There were some noises coming from Kogoro's office, mostly him shouting excitedly about something Conan didn't know. Curious about what was going on, he got a big surprise to see Okino Yoko herself drinking some tea on the sofa, sitting across a dumbstruck Kogoro.

Still puzzled about the situation, he asked Ran what was going on. She said that the idol had come for a stalking case.

_Why would such a famous idol come to Occhan, though?_

They decided to go check Yoko's room, and it turned out that Ran really wanted to go, bringing Conan along with her.

The idol went ahead to open the door, as they watched the city through the window, which was beautiful.

Then, they heard a scream. Quickly, they went around the corner to see Okino Yoko and her manager freaked out, their backs touching the wall... And, also, there was...

"You guys?!"

Conan also saw Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko there, frightened expressions as they stared at something beyond the opened door. Before he could ask them what they were doing there, he directed his eyes to the entrance and he realized what happened.

A man laid in the floor, motionless, with a knife stabbed in the middle of his back. Soon, the police arrived and began their examination.

Ran was next to the three kids, checking on them like the mother hen she was. Conan just stared at them, blinking repeatedly, until he asked what they were doing in a place like this.

"You didn't come to school today," Mitsuhiko explained. "We were worried you had caught a cold or something so we wanted to check on you, but..."

"You weren't home," the Ayumi continued. "We spotted you crossing the street on our way back and we called for you, but you didn't seem to hear us."

"So we followed you-" Genta began with a wide grin.

"You mean _stalked,_" Conan interrupted, deadpan.

"Now, now, be a little nicer," Ran scolded without any real anger, even though she thought Conan was actually right. It wasn't like the children had done it with bad intentions, though. "Thank you for taking care of Conan-kun. Next time try to talk to him before following without him knowing, alright?"

"Okay!" they said, in unison.

Rolling his eyes, Conan was about to walk away when he noticed something on the floor. Kneeling down, he took a closer look and noticed there was watermarks lying close to the body. _It's hot in here, too. The heater is on unusually high._

There also was that hair that the manager picked up when he pretended to fall a few moments ago. _Does it belong to Yoko-san? _He didn't understand what it meant.

His eyes spotted an earring underneath the sofa, but trying to get Inspector Megure to hear him out proved fruitless. It wasn't until he hid from plain sight and called for him, using his bow-tie to change his voice into a older man's that he did find it. It belonged to Ikezawa Yuuko.

Like so, she became the third suspect. Soon after was brought by the police she started arguing with Kogoro before going to the bathroom. _They look exactly the same from behind!_

"Hey, uncles..." Conan called, as innocently as he could.

"Shut up, you annoying brat!" Kogoro yelled angrily at him.

He didn't expect, however, Ayumi to come from behind him and kick Kogoro on the shin, hard, before taking off running. As he watched the older man chasing after him, he could not help but wonder. _Is she really that mad about Occhan yelling at me?_

Yuuko proved to have been in Yoko's apartment before after lighting a cigarette with a lighter that certainly didn't look like such, and the fact that she already knew where the bathroom was ─ both facts pointed out by Conan, while pretending to be a very curious child.

She ended up confessing that the victim had attacked her when she had sneaked inside, but swore she hadn't killed him.

The victim was later identified as Yoko's highschool boyfriend, making things even more confusing.

It wasn't until he saw a weird dent on the floor that everything cleared up on his mind. Now, the problem was... How to let the adults know about the trick?

"Yoko-san, Yoko-san," he started tugging on the idol's coat to get her attention. "I'm thirsty... Can I get some tea, please?"

"Conan-kun!" Ran rushed to his side and picked him up, "I'm so sorry, this child-"

"No, it's okay," she said, kindly. "I will be back soon."

Conan followed the woman as soon as Ran released him and watched her making the tea. Once she was done, she smiled at the boy.

"Would you like some sugar?"

"I can put it on myself, thank you."

With that, he grabbed the cup and the spoon, added a little sugar and swirled the liquid. Then, he took off running inside the living room, where the murder had taken place, with the cup on his hands and the spoon sticking out.

He almost collided with Kogoro, and he would have thrown him away by force if he wasn't holding a scalding hot drink on his hands.

"That was dangerous, Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko said, seriously. "You could've gotten hurt."

"You're right," he laughed, nervously, in reply. "I could have gotten burned or even stabbed, right?"

That particular commentary caught Kogoro's attention. Conan mentally smirked when he noticed him watching.

"Stabbed? How?"

"If the cup had fallen like this..." he placed it on the floor. "... and then I fell in the top of it like this..." the kid laid down and rested his upper body on his elbows, so the cup was between his arms and under his chest. "I could've gotten stabbed."

Kogoro's interest in what seemed an innocent and very childish demonstration grew.

"But, Conan-kun," Ayumi giggled. "You can't get stabbed by a spoon."

"Maybe if it was a knife, with the sharp end pointing out, it could be dangerous, but..." Mitsuhiko reasoned.

"And if the tea was frozen solid," Conan moved the spoon so it stood straighter. "It could stay like this... and then you could get seriously hurt even without the cup."

"You have a very active imagination..." Genta commented.

The detective's eyes went wide after they focused on the watermarks close to the body, and the chairs that stood nearby, upright despite the messy state of the room it was in.

"I've solved it!" he yelled at the inspector. "The criminal... is the victim himself!"

Now that Kogoro was on the right track he managed to make a perfect deduction. The victim had killed himself after mistaking Yoko with Yuuko, therefore misunderstanding the woman's defensive attitude with rejection, and had tried to pin his murder to his old love.

Conan frowned when Kogoro said that the victim loved Yoko very much, yet decided to remain silent.

_That wasn't love but crazy obsession. Regardless of what she thought of him, had he truly loved her, he would've wanted her to lead a happy life, _Conan glanced at Ran with eyes far too wise for a little boy. _Am I wrong, Shinichi-niichan?_


	6. The Birth of the Detective Boys

**File Six: The Birth of the Detective Boys**

_I shouldn't have complained that much when Mom took me to the theatre, _Conan lamented on his head, eyes trained on the man in costume.

He pretended to kick another actor and he fell into the ground, a cry of pain tearing his throat apart. _He didn't even touch him._

The whole show was so ridiculously fake that it was almost funny, yet he refrained himself from laughing, as the three children beside him seemed to enjoy it a lot.

_How did I get dragged into this again?_

_Ah, right. It was Ran-neechan._

As they headed back from Yoko's apartment the other day, the children had asked him if he wanted to go with them to watch a Kamen Yaiba show at the shopping center. He would have declined the offer, of course, if it wasn't that Ran had been standing right beside him.

Not only she had agreed on his behalf, she had also walked him to the shopping center and stayed with him until someone ─ in this case, Ayumi ─ showed up, so he wouldn't suddenly run away somewhere else.

_"Give them a chance, Conan-kun," _she had told him as they walked. _"They are good children."_

The show was finally over, and Conan was more than happy about that. As they walked back home, the three children sang the Kamen Yaiba's opening theme. His mind was somewhere else, though. He was deciding which mystery book on his collection he should read once he arrived.

But then, Genta screamed, claiming he had left his prized Yaiba badge somewhere, and that he couldn't find it.

"Hmm... hold on, when you took a picture with Yaiba, you were at..." Mitsuhiko started to think.

"It's in the store Kojima bought his hot dog," Conan said in a bored voice, and his three classmates gave him a weird look. "If you look at the photo we took with Yaiba, you should be able to see it."

Ayumi quickly took the photograph out from her pocket, and the other two boys surrounded her to take a look. "He's right!" they gasped upon the sight of Genta holding a hot dog, yet his badge was nowhere to be seen.

"He had it before, right? When we asked Yaiba to take a photo with us," Ayumi commented. "Then, Genta-kun said he was hungry so..."

"It must be still there!" Genta shouted. "I am going to get it!"

"Wait, a second," Conan tried to reason with him. "The store is already closed. Why don't we come back tomorrow morning?"

"Not a chance! You always only think about yourself!" with that, the boy took off running.

Ayumi and Mitsuhiko were right on his hills, following after him, while Conan paused for a moment. _Do I really think only about myself? _Without meaning to, his mind went back to that mansion, those men in black and... He shook his head and ran after the children, inside the shopping centre before the guard could spot them.

On the bright side, they did recover Genta's badge. On the downside, however, the security system was activated. As a result, now they were locked up, without a way out.

The lights turned off, and the three were panicking. Conan watched them freak out for a few moments, until he sighed and started walking up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Genta asked.

"The security office is on the second floor," he said, not even stopping to let them catch up. "If we go up there and explain everything to the guard they should let us go."

"You're so smart, Conan-kun!" Ayumi praised him, while they walked down the corridor.

_Not really. You should've also figured it out yourselves._

The children peeked out from the open door, just to see the man with the Kamen Yaiba outfit and the ones that had acted as the enemies, standing on the middle of the room. _What are they still doing here? _His question was quickly answered when he spotted the guards and the elevator girl on the ground, tied up and eyes folded.

Before Ayumi could say something to Yaiba, clearly not noticing the hostages yet, Conan placed a hand over her mouth and gently pushed her behind. The other two did not say a word.

"Yeah," the one disguised as Kamen Yaiba was saying. "The jewelry department is on the sixth floor and the antiques are on the seventh."

Conan mentally cursed his luck. Of all nights they could've gotten locked in, it had to be the one they were planning to rob the place.

As silently as they could, the group went downstairs. There, Conan slid his hand inside his pocket, only to find his phone missing. Just then, he remembered he had left it at home.

"Hey, do any of you have a phone?" he asked them. "We need to call the police."

"I don't have it with me," Mitsuhiko admitted, and the others said the same thing. "They are some public phones on the seventh floor, let's go check."

As their luck would have it, the thieves had cut the wires, leaving them all uncommunicated with the outside world.

"It can't be..." Mitsuhiko's shoulders dropped.

"Then... are we going to be killed?!" the girl panicked.

"I want to eat a unaju before I'm killed!" Genta whined.

Conan looked at the group, a determined look behind his thick glasses. "No one is going to get killed today," he decided, borrowing a paint brush and a can of white paint from a nearby store. "Come, Kojima, help me out."

The boy guided a confused Genta close to the windows and then climbed on his shoulders. He painted a big SOS message, hoping that the people on the building next to theirs would see it. Yet, it didn't work. No matter how much they screamed and banged into the glass, nobody noticed.

Conan was feeling a bit desperate. So did Genta, considering that he began banging on the window with a nearby chair. He went to grab a table to repeat the process, when Conan noticed the security camera starting to move.

"Duck under the tables, now!"

The three almost had a panic attack when they saw Conan rush the other way, to close the curtains so the message could remain hidden. He made it just in time.

It didn't matter, because they spotted Genta when he was trying to peek out his hiding spot soon thereafter.

Like so, they ran.

* * *

It was after another close call, caused by Genta's growling stomach while they pretended to be mannequins, they decided to sit down behind the corner a nearby supermarket and eat some snacks.

_It doesn't make sense, _thought Conan, as he thought of the time that the mechanical stairs started moving when they stood on them. _Why would they...?_

Then he understood. _That one is the mastermind._

"I am sorry," Ayumi muttered to herself. "If we are saved, we will pay you back in full amount."

_Our guardians will, technically, _Conan though as he drank from a can of iced coffee. He had no idea how badly he could miss this flavor. _What Ran-neechan doesn't know won't hurt her._

"But," Mitsuhiko gulped down the last bit of a donut, and looked at the floor, a worried frown present on his face. "Are we going to be saved?"

Genta seemed to agree, nodding somberly.

"We _are _going to make it out of here," Conan said, seriously. "Don't even doubt for one second."

The kids blinked at him.

"But, how?" Ayumi asked.

She watched as the boy grinned to himself, for some reason. "Say," he began. "Have any of you ever watched _Home Alone?_"

The way the children just stared into his soul, equally clueless expressions pinching their faces, told Conan what he should have already expected. Sighing tiredly, he rested his forehead against his hand. "Nevermind, just hear me out."

* * *

Conan chuckled to himself. He had thought that riding a dog in the middle of the night to search for a kidnapped girl was the craziest thing he would do in his entire life. Yet, there he was, riding a bicycle into the robbers' face, throwing alcohol at them until they ─ and Mitsuhiko, as an addition ─ passed out irremediably drunk, and even released loads of dogs on the man who acted as Yaiba.

Now they stood in front of a heap of defeated criminals. Genta and Ayumi started to cheer in front of the cameras, when they turned around, however, Conan was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Conan stood in front of the elevator girl, an innocent smile plastered on his face.

"Oh, hey kid!" she smiled brightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I got locked up inside," Conan said. "You need to hurry up, Miss, or the bad people are going to hurt you."

The woman nodded, even as she felt herself being pulled by the boy, who had a tight grip on her hand. "Where are we going, boy?" she asked as he dragged her inside an elevator, and pressed the rooftop button.

"I heard those thieves say that they were going to be on the sixth and seventh floor," he explained, notchantly. "So I think the rooftop is the safest place we can be in."

"Oh, I see," the woman forced a smile. "Are your friends safe, also?"

"How did you know I got locked up inside with my friends?"

A pause. "I saw you with your friends when you were leaving earlier today, so I thought..."

"By the way, why did you become a elevator girl? You would make an excellent escape artist."

When the child turned to her and smirked, she felt a chill running down her back. She didn't even realize that the elevator had stopped upon reaching their destination.

"You were tied up pretty tightly at that time," light reflected on his glasses, hiding his eyes from her. "Weren't you, Elevator Girl? Or should I say, the fifth member of the robbery gang?"

"... Who are you exactly?"

"Edogawa Conan, just an ordinary elementary school student."

The woman stared at him for a moment, shocked, before she recovered, letting out an arrogant laugh. "You aren't so bad, boy, but you didn't seem to realize something very, very important," with that, she pulled out a gun and pressed it against his forehead. "I am the boss of that group."

Conan took a step back and then another, out of the elevator. The gun muzzle cold against his sweating forehead remained in place and was pushing him further, closer to the edge of the building.

_No fingerprints, no witnesses. If she erases the camera footage, gets rid of the gun and ties herself up she will remain a poor hostage who was at the wrong place at the wrong time._

_Just like me. An innocent child whose life was terminated by pushing him off a twenty-story building, all because he knew too much._

He stopped, the gun still pressing firmly against his forehead. "I'm sorry, Miss," he said to her, a very serious and equally determined look on his eyes. "I can't die here."

_There still are things I need to do._

_And there is someone out there that I want to find._

"Do you really think you are in position to negotiate?" she laughed. "We are up here, alone. And guess who is the one that holds the gun?"

He smirked. "Who said I was alone?"

Before she could question him, a skateboard came from nowhere and knocked her off her feet. As soon as the attention was driven away from him, Conan ran where Genta, who had just kicked it, was standing.

Ayumi was quick to jump into her shoulders and bit into the hand that held the gun with her very sharp teeth. Just as soon as she released the weapon, Conan rushed in and took it away from her grasp with a napkin.

"Take this!" and with that, Genta broke _a freaking_ _chair_ on her head, causing her to drop into the ground, unconscious.

Ayumi and Conan stared at the boy for a few moments, and then to the woman sprawled across the floor, wincing.

"G-Genta-kun..." the girl stammered. "Don't you think you went a bit overboard...?"

"That woman almost killed Conan!" he argued. "She deserved it."

Conan couldn't decide if he was supposed to be touched or absolutely disturbed, so he chose to silently tie the woman up.

_It's finally over, _he sighed.

The boy gave a long look at the gun on his hand, which she had just pointed at his head, and activated the safety. Then, he went back to the other two.

* * *

Mitsuhiko woke at some hour in the night, feeling dizzy and disoriented. He sat down slowly, and had to hold down a groan of pain when his head throbbed, as if it would split in two. Once the initial pain had died down a bit, he started to take on his surroundings.

He was in the floor, a sheet draped over his body. Turning his head to the right, he noticed Genta and Ayumi, also covered by a similar cover, slumbering peacefully.

_So did Conan-kun's plan work?_

Speaking of which, he wondered where the boy was. A soft desperate whimper answered his question, yet it didn't make him feel any better.

Because, even though Conan was asleep at his left, there wasn't any sense of peacefulness on his face. His eyebrows twitched and furrowed, like he was in pain, while he shifted around restlessly.

Mitsuhiko hesitated, wondering if it would be better if he woke him up or not, when the child seemed to curl tighter around himself, his hands clenching around the sheets.

"Conan-kun," hand on his shoulder, Mitsuhiko gently tried to shake Conan awake. "Please wake up. It's only a nightmare."

If anything, the boy seemed to fight him, face clenched in discomfort. "... Why...?" he muttered on his sleep, so softly that Mitsuhiko almost didn't catch it.

"Conan-kun," he tried again, his voice firmer this time.

"... Mitsuhiko-kun...?" came a female sleepy mumble from behind. Turning around he noticed he had accidentally woken Ayumi and Genta up. "What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to wake Conan-kun up," he explained, concern lacing his voice. "I think he is having a nightmare."

"A nightmare?"

Just then icy blue eyes were beginning to open, staring confusedly at the three children talking among themselves while crowding around him. Genta then shifted his gaze to him and smiled when he saw him.

"Conan, you are awake," he said, and the other two sighed in relief.

Sweat was collecting on his forehead so he wiped it out with a hand as he used the other one to push himself up.

_It has been a while since I last had a nightmare._

He would have been surprised if he didn't, he realized. After all, he _had _been pointed with a gun just a few hours ago, so it was to be expected that he would have nightmares about that.

The most disturbing thing, however, was that the one holding the gun in his dreams wasn't the elevator girl.

"Are you okay?" Ayumi's concerned question came through, as expected.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Conan shook his head with a forced smile. "I'm sorry I scared you, guys."

"But..."

"I'm okay, really."

"No," said Mitsuhiko, raising his voice, yet remaining completely calm. "You are _not _okay, Conan-kun."

Conan paused to stare at Mitsuhiko, surprised to see him actually raising his voice. The boy was deadly serious, even more than it was usual. He sighed before continuing.

"You hadn't been acting like yourself lately, and then you suddenly missed school. At first because we thought it may be that you were falling ill," his eyes narrowed. "But you weren't sick, at all."

The child in question did not say anything, stunned as he was. _Had I really acted any differently? _He hadn't even noticed it himself.

"And now it turns out you are living in a detective agency with your brother's girlfriend," Genta added. Had the situation been any less tense, he would have found very amusing the fact that even this boy had noticed Shinichi and Ran's relationship.

"What happened to you, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked, softly, and suddenly the floor seemed to be far more interesting than any of their faces. She pressed further, wrapping her hands around his. "... Did something happen to Shinichi-oniisan?"

His breath hitched at that single sentence, and for a moment, he couldn't think, he couldn't move, he couldn't breath. Slowly, he looked at his classmates and noticed their looks of... Sadness? Pity? Concern?

Ayumi's hold tightened, for some reason.

There was something cold and wet trailing down his cheek. He hurried up to wipe it with his sleeve and was about to stand up to go to the bathroom or something, _anything_, when Ayumi's sweet voice stopped him from doing so.

"It's okay if you want to cry."

Finally, after more than half a year holding in more than a child should, the dam broke. As tears slipped from his eyes without his consent, it all came pouring out ─ his concerns, his fears, his frustrations, everything.

Between sobs, he managed to say one single sentence:

"... I don't know..."

For the first time he could remember, Conan truly cried.

Once he had calmed down enough to talk almost normally, he told his classmates everything. About his brother's suspicious behavior throughout the year and even about the men in black he saw talking to him.

He also told them he hadn't seen him ever since the day they went to Tropical Land, and that he had absolutely no idea of what happened with him after that.

"Alright! Then, we will find your brother!" Genta said suddenly, after Conan was finished with everything he had to say. "This will be our first case, Detective Boys!"

The others just stared, cluelessly.

"Detective Boys?" Mitsuhiko raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"That's what we are going to get called. And for now on, I'm the leader of this group."

"Don't decide that on your own, Genta-kun."

"I like it!" Ayumi beamed. "Even though I'm a girl... but Detective Kids doesn't sound half as cool as Detective Boys, so let's go with it."

"W-Wait a second," Conan said, hurriedly, catching the attention of the three kids. "This isn't a game! Those men are clearly dangerous and-"

"So what?" Genta gave him a bored luck. "You still are going to chase after them even if we don't do anything, aren't you?"

"Well, I..." he trailed off.

"We're here, Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko smiled gently at him. "You don't have to do everything on your own."

"Because we're friends," Ayumi beamed, then turned to the other two. "Right?"

They both nodded, and for a moment Conan couldn't help but blink rapidly, completely stunned. _Friends, _it really sounded good. Taking on their faces for a moment, the boy closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Thank you, everyone."

It was scary to tear down those protectictive walls he had built around his heart, let those kids in. Terrifying, even. Yet, at the same time it felt warm and nice to finally have someone to open up to

Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay this time. He only had to be a little bit braver and give it a try.

"After all of this I don't feel sleepy anymore," commented Ayumi. "Do you guys want do play or something?"

"I have an idea," Genta said, standing up. "Follow me!"

So they did. The children then found themselves in front of a video club. Conan watched as his friends beamed and, laughing among themselves, ran inside. The boy paused for a second, then followed close.

"Hey, hey!" Ayumi called. "Let's watch some Kamen Yaiba."

"Agreed!" the other two raised their hands.

Conan grimaced a bit. _After being chased around by a guy who looked exactly like him, they still want to watch it..._

"What episode should we watch?" Mitsuhiko thought out loud, a hand resting on his chin as if his decision would affect the fate of the world. "I personally enjoyed the one where Yaiba got trapped a burning building with his rival, but..."

"No, that one was boring!" Genta complained. "Let's watch the one where he defeated the monster terrorizing Karuizawa!"

"That one is too long! It took about four episodes for the beast to die."

Ayumi pondered for a while, then turned to Conan, who just stood there, silently, feeling a bit lost.

"Which one do you like the most, Conan-kun?" Conan flinched at her question. "I love every single second of the series, so I don't mind."

"... I haven't really watched Kamen Yaiba..." he said in a whisper, yet loud enough for his three friends to hear. "Like, not even a single episode."

There was complete silence. Then...

"EH?!"

"I have always prefered reading over watching television, so I have never bothered to... watch it..."

He trailed off when he noticed the children talking to themselves, their voices rushed and frantic, prompting him to sweatdrop.

Their heads suddenly snapped his way, causing him to jump out of surprise. Ayumi then took his hand and dragged him away, towards the electronic store.

Genta set up a DVD player, then Mitsuhiko came running, a CD box on his hands. "I brought Kamen Yaiba's first ten episodes."

"Good," Genta nodded, seriously. "Now, Ayumi, play the first one."

"Understood!"

"And you," he pointed at Conan, then to the spot in front of the television. "Sit there."

"Yes, yes..."

Mitsuhiko then came running, arms full with pillows and sheets before setting them on the floor. The rest of the children sat next to him and Ayumi hit play.

As the opening theme filled the room, he couldn't help but wonder.

_Is this really okay?_

Time passed by, quickly. By then, two episodes had already been watched, and the third was almost over.

Without meaning to, Conan's eyes went wide as he watched the enemy crawling closer to Yaiba from his back. The enemy jumped and raised his sword above his head while the protagonist remained unaware of his presence.

Just as he was about to get hit, the screen went black. It wasn't long until the ending theme started playing.

Conan sat straighter, then reached with his hand to the remote. "Is okay with you guys if I just skip the ending?"

But when he turned around he realized his friends were all fast asleep. He watched them for a few seconds before shrugging and putting the next episode on.

Without him noticing, a timid, little smile drew itself on his face.

It was closer to morning when a patrolling police officer finally noticed the SOS message on the windows. Soon, the police plus Kogoro and Ran burst inside, and got the shock of their lives upon the sight of the criminals, tied together in the middle of the food court, completely knocked out.

The children were found not long thereafter, huddled together and sleeping in front of a forgotten TV, the remote resting on top of Conan's limp hand.

_So cute, _Ran giggled to herself before taking off her phone to call all of their guardians.

After taking a couple of photos, obviously.

It wasn't long until their worried parents arrived at the place, taking their children with them. Ran also leaned down and picked Conan up, cradling him against her chest in a motherly fashion.

Their statements to the police could wait until tomorrow. The robbers _had _been caught already, so there was no need to hurry.

For a moment, the teen watched the kid sleep. His face was so free of care that she didn't have the heart to wake him. Instead, she just got into a taxi with his father, the child still slumbering, nestled comfortably in her arms.

_Something good must have happened to him, _she thought.

After all, even in sleep, the boy had never looked so content before.


	7. Just a Rat

**File Seven: Just a Rat**

"Let's go to Tropical Land after school!"

A sense of deja-vu washed over him like a tsunami.

Blue eyes looked up from the book in front of them and blinked at the small girl, who was grinning widely back at him. "But, Yoshida-san," said Conan, looking confused. "We already went there not long ago."

"No, I don't mean that," she rapidly shook her head. "We need some clues on your brother, remember?" Ayumi turned to the other two. "Right, guys?"

"I agree," Mitsuhiko nodded, a determined look on his face. "If we want to know what happened, our best option is to investigate the place where he has last been seen."

"Okay, then we Detective Boys will-!" Genta began.

"There's nothing in that place," Conan interrupted with a plain voice.

"Eh? But you won't know until you try."

An eyebrow was raised, and the boy looked at them as if they were stupid. "Did you really think I haven't checked there already?" he closed the book, frowning a little as he stared at the cover. "There was no trace of him. It was as if he had just disappeared into thin air... Maybe they already..."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Ayumi tried to comfort her friend. "I mean, if there's no trace of him in that place, doesn't that mean he wasn't killed?"

"Not really. His body could've gotten carried away somehow," he answered, with crude honesty. "He could have also gotten kidnapped and then killed somewhere else. Also he could have..."

"Okay, I think we all get it," Mitsuhiko stopped him there before things could get uglier. "All of those things are only theories. For all we know, he could have ran away and hidden somewhere."

His fists clenched under his desk. _I hope so._

"Wait a second... I think I have an idea!" the freckled boy suddenly said. "When was the last time you've gone to your real home, Conan-kun?"

"More than a week ago, why?"

"Think about this," he explained. "If we assume that Shinichi-san is actually running away from someone else, he might have left some clue for you to find, right?"

"And there's no better place to do so than Conan's own house!" Genta nodded at him, a grin on his face. "Let's go there after school!"

"Wait a second-!"

Just then, Kobayashi-sensei opened the door, signalizing the start of another school day and his friends scurried away to their places almost instantly. Conan sighed tiredly, as he put his mystery book away and pulled out his school materials from his bag.

_That's probably the dumbest theory I've ever heard in my life... _

_And I live with Occhan._

* * *

"Wow, Conan-kun! Your place is _so _big!"

"There are so many books..."

"Hey, Conan, why don't you have any eel on here?"

Conan sighed tiredly as he watched his friends roam freely around his home. He hadn't even closed the door properly and they were already on the second floor, checking every single spot of the house.

"You guys," he called. "Are you sure you didn't set this up so you could go snooping around on my stuff?"

"How mean," Genta huffed. "We are checking for any hidden messages."

"Inside my refrigerator?"

"You never know."

Conan facepalmed, hard, while going upstairs with the rest of them and almost bumping into Ayumi as she ran off the library.

She didn't seem to notice that, however.

"That flower you have in there is very beautiful," she commented, walking through the corridor. "You and your brother must have taken good care of it."

_Ah, she must mean the petunia in the desk._

Over his old father's desk, his brother liked to keep a petunia. When Conan had asked why, he had replied that their mother loved petunias and that she had basically forced him to keep one there.

Conan suspected Shinichi liked petunias as well, but he had never bothered to ask so his suspicions had never been confirmed.

"There's nothing in here," Mitsuhiko commented, entering Shinichi's room after Ayumi and Genta. "I thought there would be something, but..."

"It's so plain and boring," the bigger boy commented.

"Yeah, I know," Conan replied as he stood behind the trio. "Just don't tell him that, okay?"

"I wonder if Conan-kun's room is nicer," Ayumi pondered.

"Hey..."

"Let's check it out!"

"Hey!"

As expected, there was nothing in the entire house that they could use as a clue. Like so, the Detective Boys left with defeated expressions on their faces.

Except for Conan. The boy was glad this fruitless investigation was over. Just as they were crossing the street, however, a sheet of paper flew through the air and got stuck on Genta's face.

As they took a closer look they saw a few weird drawings and the word _ORO _at the end of it.

"Could this be..." Ayumi gasped, excitedly. "This might be a message from Shinichi-niichan!"

Conan looked at her, blankly. _What...?_

"Ayumi-chan is right. Shinichi-san must have left some sort of code for Conan-kun to find."

"Alright, let's-"

"Could you stop it?" Conan sighed, tiredly. "Listen, there's absolutely no secret code or message that..."

The boy trailed off and stopped for a moment, glancing back at his house, a thoughtful look on his face. Then, realization hit him.

All of sudden his eyes went wide. The three kids watched their friend curse under his breath and take off running.

"Conan-kun?!"

"Go ahead without me, I'll catch you later!"

_"That flower you have in there is very beautiful,"_ Ayumi's words echoed in his mind.

_Nobody has been there in more than an entire week. A petunia wouldn't have lasted more than six days. Unless..._

He reached the library and gazed upon the flower. Stunned, he walked towards the desk and took a closer look.

It was not a petunia, but an orchid.

Why, though?

_Ran-neechan? _he worried about the teen that shared her name with the flower in front of him. _No, that can't be it... Can it?_

Not thinking about it twice, the boy grabbed his phone and immediately dialed Ran's number. He could feel himself getting nervous as he waited ─ she just wouldn't pick up. _Did something happen to her?_

Taking a closer look, he noticed the water was clean and new ─ somebody must have put it in just recently. Could it really have been him?

After all only Conan, Shinichi and their parents knew it was weird to have an orchid instead of a petunia in there, and the Kudo couple was away in America. So...

"Conan-kun, is something wrong?" Ran picked up suddenly, startling the young boy out of his thoughts. "I'm in karate practice right now."

Conan could've sighed in relief if it wasn't for the speaker beside his mouth. "Ah, I'm sorry, Ran-neechan," he pitched his voice higher, making it sound more innocent and sweet. His eyes went to one of the bookshelves and walked towards it as he spoke. "I forgot about it."

_Ran-neechan is okay... Maybe he meant something else entirely? _

Pulling a chair closer he went through the dozens of books that they kept. He heard Ran sigh exasperatedly and mumble something about him being forgetful 'just like his brother', to which he only replied with a nervous giggle.

_Is there somewhere he would hide something in? Somewhere only people he knew would know about..._

"_This is a secret between us two, okay, Conan?"_

Then his eyes widened slightly. He could recall, very barely, an even younger Conan playing hide-and-seek with his older brother and father in this same library. Fuzzy as the memory was, the kid could still see his father cocky grin when they spotted his sons for the fourth time that day, and him claiming that he would find them everywhere, every single time.

Until little Conan found that secret spot, and for that point on, Yusaku had been unable to find him any longer. Shinichi enjoyed seeing his father so frustrated, so he had made his younger brother promise he would never tell a soul about that place.

"... Conan-kun, are you okay?" Ran's concerned question came through.

"Yeah, sorry. Kojima almost tripped on his feet and I got distracted for a moment," he reassured her.

It didn't take him long to find it. On the second shelf there was a section where books were much smaller, so there was a empty space between them and the wall, large enough for a child to fit in.

Disappointedly enough, there was nothing on there.

"I just wanted to tell you I'm going to spend the night at Professor Agasa's home. He made a new game," Conan continued. "Yoshida-san, the others and I are going to try it out..."

He trailed off when he took notice of the dictionaries, resting horizontally between the books and the shelf above them. _Spanish, Italian, French, English, Japanese... _he began taking them out and reading the titles.

Conan barely hummed when Ran told him to take care and hung off. He began opening the books one by one, searching for some kind of hint.

_Orquídea... Orchidea... Orchidée... Orchid... This doesn't make any sense!_

He took the Japanese dictionary between his small hands and stared. _Ran... Ran... _his gaze fixed in the English one, tossed away in a corner. ... _Ran... Run!_

His eyes opened up, completely terrified. _To run?! Run from what?! _

There was no time for further questions, because the boy suddenly heard the front door slowly opening, creaking as it did so. Had he not gotten into this conclusion, he would have yelled at his friends for entering, for the second time, without permission at his own home.

These people were silent, however. Unusually quiet and sneaky. They simply _couldn't _be the Detective Boys. _Then, who...?_

Then it dawned to him. Could these people be the ones he had been told to run from?

As silently as he could, Conan began to take all the books from the shelf, before climbing there. While he started to put them all of them back, like they used to be before, Conan paled.

The knob turned just as he was finished. So he laid there, on his side, in complete silence.

"Wow, this is truly a mess," a gruffy, male voice echoed in the room.

"There are two rooms on this floor," another said. "Maybe one belongs to their family... The other must be a guest room."

Conan could feel sweat collecting on his brow.

"They are in America right now. Really, who lets a teenager live alone in an entirely different country?"

_Calm down, _he told himself. If he panicked he would begin to hyperventilate and they would _know _he was there.

And who knew what it could happen to him if they did?

Suddenly, the phone on his hands lit up and he had to bit his tongue to keep himself from gasping. Quickly, he lowered the light on screen.

_Please, tell me they didn't see that..._

He waited, with a battled breath, but the men continued talking normally, so he relaxed a little bit. That was it, until the book closest to his eyes was pulled away.

His lungs stopped working altogether and his heart raced at the thought of being discovered. What he saw, however, was totally unexpected.

Icy blue eyes, devoid of any kind emotion, were staring right into his soul. Right in front of him stood a young girl, who couldn't be older than seven or eight years old, wearing a white coat. She kept her long, raven black hair in a braid that fell into her shoulder.

The girl held his gaze for a moment, before silently placing the book back into its place.

Conan blinked.

"Did you find something, Sherry-chan?" a woman said, from somewhere close to his hiding spot.

"Nothing," the childish, yet very cold, voice said. "Just a rat."

Any other time Conan would have felt very offended to be compared to a rat. As things were now, however, while he felt glad that this mysterious girl hadn't sold him out, the boy was confused.

_What was all of that about?_

Shakily, he moved his gaze back to the phone. There was a text from Mitsuhiko that read:

"_Are you okay? _

_We saw a group of scary people in black entering your house."_

Without any kind of hesitation, he typed back.

"_Don't come in! _

_Stay out of sight until they are gone."_

Conan put the phone back and hoped, prayed that this time around his friends just listened to him.

"I don't think anybody has lived here ever since that day," said someone from the doorframe. "I think he is really dead."

"I already told you, he's dead," the girl named Sherry sighed, exasperated. "There is absolutely no possibility of a human surviving after taking that drug."

Conan's eyebrows raised far above his hairline. _Drug?_

"We should leave for now," the woman said. "Sherry-chan is kind of busy, right?"

The boy could practically hear Sherry scowling at her, and then there were steps fading away from his range of hearing. Even then, Conan didn't even move a muscle.

_If what those people were saying is true... Shinichi-niichan really did get involved with the wrong kind of people._

_That one called Sherry said there was a big chance he is dead, if she was really telling the truth, then..._

_Then..._

He shook his head. The only one that could possibly know about the orchids, and his secret hiding spot was _him. _

He just couldn't be dead.

"Conan-kun?"

"Conan-kun, please answer!"

"Conan! Are you alright?"

For a moment he panicked when he heard the voices filling the house, but then calmed down when he realized the sounds were not stopping, which meant those dangerous people were long gone.

"Conan-kun!" he heard Ayumi's voice entering the room. "Do you think they...?"

"Don't worry," the children were startled when a few books fell from a shelf, revealing Conan, who just chose to sat there. "I'm still here."

"But who were those people?" the freckled boy said, after recovering from the initial scare. Conan looked down, prompting him to gasp. "Are they-?"

"Yeah, they are."

After that, the boy with glasses led the group to the living room, and there he told them everything he had heard while he was hiding. When he explained what the girl had done and said, Mitsuhiko placed his hand under his chin, clearly recalling his parents drinking a glass of something they called 'Sherry'.

"Sherry?" he mumbled. "Why would anyone call their daughter after wine?"

"Maybe they _really _liked wine," Genta said, unhelpfully. "Maybe I should call my first child Eel when I grow up..."

The Edogawa kid let out a dry chuckle. _Please, don't._

"She doesn't sound like a bad person," the boys gave Ayumi a weird look after she said that. "I mean, she didn't say anything when she found Conan-kun. A bad guy wouldn't do that, right?"

Conan just shrugged and leaned further into the couch, feeling far too drained to give this any more thought. At his lack of response, Genta fished out the paper that he had gotten just recently and sighed.

"That means that this isn't a code sent by Shinichi-niichan?"

"Evidently not," Conan simply replied.

"I wonder what this is, though," Ayumi said. "There's this foreign word... It's spelled O-R-O..."

"I think it must have a meaning," Mitsuhiko piped in. "The first letter, O, means-"

"_Oro_ means gold in Italian," interrupted the younger Kudo, with a bored tone. "I just came across that word when I was looking for something else in the dictionary."

At that moment, the boy realized he shouldn't have said anything, if they way their eyes started sparkling, dreamily, was something to go by. Next thing he knew, he was taking a bus with them to the Touto Tower, because there was a drawing of it on the paper.

From the corner of his eye, though, the boy noticed a pair of men dressed in black following after they got off the bus.

_Don't tell me, these people are...?_

He shook his head almost immediately. No, they simply couldn't be them. As far as he knew, the people his brother had gotten in trouble with were smart and efficient. They wouldn't just follow a bunch of kids around the city without a reason.

Then it hit him. _Oro, the Italian word for gold. _And then the recently arrested Dino Capone, leader of an _Italian _robbery group. _Oh, my. _

Why were they always getting in so many dangerous situations?

When he turned around, however, his friends had already left after he had mentioned that the first symbols _might _mean a clothes shop. Conan sighed, tiredly, when he saw the trio getting kicked off said store for misbehaving.

_This will be a long day..._

* * *

It was night already when Conan finally understood what the code meant. All too aware of the people stalking them, he decided to go to the bathroom.

There he pulled out his phone.

_What can I do? They won't believe me if I told them we're stalked by a bunch of italian robbers, _his eyes fixed on his bow-tie. _Unless..._

"Hello, police?" he said, in a older male voice. "I was walking down the street and saw a group of kids followed by some weird people, and they really look like the Italian robbers from the news... Yeah, they told me to call the police and they are guiding them to..."

Like so, danger was easily averted. Once on the location, the thieves came out of hiding, pointing their guns at the group. The three paled, considerably, while Conan just smirked.

Even the thieves were confused, exchanging looks, unable to understand.

At least, until they heard it:

"It's the police! Don't move!"

* * *

"Eh?" Ran smiled at the children. "That's great, everyone! You figured out the code! And then those thieves..."

"I, I caught them!" Genta exclaimed.

"And I perfectly deduced the code," Mitsuhiko grinned.

Conan could only let out a dry laugh while he zapped through every single channel on Agasa's old TV. The reason they were currently there was because they had decided to stay there until their parents came to pick them up.

Ran had been the first one to arrive, obviously and had been shocked to find out that they had leaded a group of thieves towards their arrest.

And of course his friends were taking all the credit. He didn't mind, though. Unlike his older brother, Conan didn't really enjoy the spotlight.

"That's not right," unexpectedly, Ayumi interrupted the two boys. "The code was solved and the thieves were captured..." she smiled towards Conan's direction. "... all thanks to Conan-kun!"

"Eh?" said Ran, with a smile on her face.

"Eh?" Conan blinked at their way for a few seconds, before blushing a little bit under the unwanted attention. "I really didn't do much, actually..."

"Conan-kun," Ayumi ran closer to him, and sat beside him. Then, out the blue, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you!"

Genta and Mitsuhiko screamed mentally.

Conan did, too.

"Wow!" Ran beamed at him. "Good for you, Conan-kun. You got a cute girlfriend!"

Conan blushed harder, if possible. "Girlfriend-?!" he choked out. "N-No, that's not it!"

"He's blushing, how cute!"

He tried to argue a bit longer, yet it proved to be almost impossible when he had Ayumi clinging on his arm, Ran giggling at him and the other two boys glaring holes into his head. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh and said nothing. His face was still red, though.

And Agasa couldn't stop himself from laughing, loudly.

Once the commotion had died down a bit, and Ayumi had released him to go home with her mother, just like the other two had done, Ran stood up to leave.

"By the way, Ran-neechan," he spoke. "I'm still planning to stay with Professor Agasa for the night. There are a few things I want him to show me."

Agasa gave him a weird look even as the teen nodded at him with a smile, bid goodbye to the professor and finally left. Conan's childish smile left as soon as the door closed behind the girl's back.

"What's wrong, Conan?" the adult decided to speak. "I don't think there's something in here that I hadn't shown you yet."

"I went to my old home a few hours ago," without any notice, the boy broke the news to him. "I hoped there was a clue to Shinichi-niichan's whereabouts."

Agasa flinched a bit at his words.

"Find Shinichi?" the old man let a strangled laugh. "So that's what has been bothering you? Don't worry, he's going to get back before you-"

"A group of people, all dressed in black, broke in," he interrupted. Agasa's eyes widened, terrified. "Luckily, I was able to hide until they were gone."

Conan paused, examining the professor face for a few moments.

"You're not surprised," blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Terrified, yes, but not surprised at all."

For a second, it was quiet. Agasa let out a long sigh, focusing his gaze to his lap.

"You told Ran-neechan and I not to call the police," the kid accused. "Not because my brother was going to return soon, but because you knew these people are dangerous. In other words, you _know_ who they are."

To his surprise, Agasa slowly shook his head. "That's where you are wrong, Conan," the man confessed. "I have absolutely no idea who those men in black are."

"You don't? Then, why...?"

"Shinichi begged me to," he confessed. "I should've asked why, but I was simply too scared to do so."

Then Conan stood up from his place on the sofa, so he could be right in front of the clueless old man. The look on his eyes wasn't the calculative cold it was before. He could see... desperation?

"Please, Professor Agasa," for the first time the adult could remember, Conan pleaded, begged. "Help me. We have to find him."

He opened his mouth to tell him off, that was too dangerous for a little kid like him. But then, he remembered ─ this child was _Shinichi's brother, _and Agasa had never found anyone more reckless and stubborn that the highschool detective.

It went without saying that, even if he didn't agree, Conan would still go after them any way or another. Even if it meant doing it all alone.

With a defeated sigh, Professor Agasa reluctantly nodded.


	8. Like a True Detective

**File Eight: Like a True Detective**

It had been a morning like any other, until Ran picked up an innocent looking card from the family mailbox. It had been addressed to the great detective, Mouri Kogoro.

_"On the next full moon, the shadows of the Tsukikage Island will once again begin to vanish._

_Your investigation is required._

_Asou Keiji."_

That was the reason why Conan was there, currently sitting on the train with Ran and her father, travelling to the pier. Then, they would take a boat to this island and figure out what in the world that letter meant.

"Damn, all because that letter," Kogoro complained, loudly.

"Who cares? We get to relax on a small island on the Izu Sea," Ran said, happily, before turning to Conan. "Right, Conan-kun?"

The child looked up from his bento box, and nodded at her.

"Geez," the man was visually annoyed. "I understand why you are coming, but why is the brat here too?"

"We can't just leave him alone, can we?"

Kogoro sighed, heavily, in response. "Haven't his parents or the detective brat gotten in touch yet?" at that question, the boy flinched.

"No," was the sad response the girl gave.

Instantly, the boy excused himself to go to the bathroom, hoping that it would get them to change topics before anyone could get the idea of actually call the Kudo couple.

Because he knew that the last thing he currently needed was his crazy parents roaming around.

Before he could open the door of the compartment, two unsettlingly familiar people, carrying a big suitcase walked in. Conan froze at the sight of them.

_Those are the men in black from the other time!_

The bigger one shoved him away, irritated, before sitting on their seat. For a moment or so, he just stood there, watching. His eyes didn't leave their faces, even if he had to return to his seat beside Ran and in front of a sleeping Kogoro.

At some point, they went to the dining car and he sneaked closer to their seats. There, he pulled out his chewing gum.

After the professor had, albeit reluctantly, agreed to help him out on his chase he had given him three new fully operational gadgets for him to use. First, the power-enchanting kick shoes. Second, a wrist watch that could shot a very potent anesthetic needle if he was in trouble. Lastly, his tracking glasses.

But some of them had their low points...

_This is a bit degrading, _he lamented, staring at the chewing gum stuck on his fingers. _And a bit gross._

He stuck the bug under their seats, when Ran suddenly came from behind.

"What has gotten into you, Conan-kun?" she scolded him. "This is so unlike you."

_Of course it is,_ thought Conan but said nothing, as he watched Ran placing the gum inside the ashtray, instead of throwing it away somewhere else. He could've sighed in relief.

Like so, he quietly listened to their conversation from his seat.

"I finally can take a smoke," one of them sighed, taking his cigarette out. "Pretty slick transaction, eh?"

"You're too loud, Vodka."

"Careful as always, Gin?"

_That girl, Sherry, and now Vodka and Gin, _he thought. _Alcohol-themed codenames, huh?_

"They're probably back at their seat, checking out the view, laughing to themselves," at some point, Gin said. "Their last view..."

He kept on listening on their conversation, enough for him to find out that they were going to kill whoever they had made the transaction with. Along with the rest of the passengers. There was a bomb, set to go off at 15:10.

He would have screamed if he didn't know any better. Instead, he forced himself to remain silently still.

The pair was gone, as soon as the train got to the next stop. It was frustrating to see the only possible lead to his brother slipping away from his fingers

But there wasn't anything a mere seven year-old could do about it. At least, not now.

_Besides, _he stood up suddenly, looking towards the way to the dining car. _There's a bomb inside this train. If this keeps up..._

His fists clenched. Experience taught him that nobody would believe a child's story about bombs and explosions. But, if he didn't find it anytime soon...

Time was tickling.

"Hey, where are you going, Conan-kun?" she grabbed him by the arm before he could even leave. "You can't just go around bothering other passengers."

He looked back at Ran, and she paused for a minute. There was a very serious expression on his face.

"Listen, Ran-neechan, there's no much time to explain," the child said. "There's a bomb."

The teen's eyes widened and she just watched as the kid closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"I heard two men talking about it, but they were gone before I knew it," he stared into her eyes. "I don't have any proof, but I swear it's true. So, please, Ran-neechan, you have to believe me!"

His gaze didn't waver under the girl's stern stare, and watched as Ran's eyebrows were brought together in a frown. He expected her to scold him for making up stories, yet she didn't. Instead, her hand went to her father's shoulder and gave him a shake, waking him up from his nap, before telling him what Conan had told her.

"Ran, go tell the personal that there's a bomb somewhere in this train," Kogoro commanded, instantly awake. Ran nodded and quickly went to do what she was told. Meanwhile, the dad stared at Conan, with a serious expression. "Conan, what did those people say? There might be something that could let us figure out where it is."

Conan blinked twice. _Do they really believe me, just like that?_

"Anything you remember can be of help," he pressed further.

"The bomb is in a black case. They did a transaction with somebody on the dining car, and planned to kill them afterwards," his hands went to his chin, deep in thought. "One of them was relieved that he was finally able to take a smoke... So this person might not like it... and might be in a non-smoking car."

"That actually makes sense," the other man replied. "There are eight non-smoking cars in this train, though. If we could reduce it even more..."

Conan's eyes widened, as he remembered that man's words.

"_They're probably back at their seat, checking out the view, laughing to themselves."_

"Hey, brat, where are you going?!"

The kid had taken off running without a word, prompting Kogoro to curse under his breath and follow this reckless child, who didn't stop until he reached his destination.

"There are only three cars where you can see the scenery," he said, through pants, when he was asked what he was doing. "Among them, the only non-smoking car is this one."

The detective understood right away what the boy meant, and started looking to the passengers as he walked through the corridor. "There are only four people carrying black cases," he noted. "If we check all those we can make it."

Conan looked at his watch. "Forty minutes."

"Eh?"

"The bomb is set to explode at 15:10."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" he walked towards a man who looked like a yakuza. "Damn it."

The child didn't say anything in return, just carefully studied the other three. There was the woman, the man with glasses and the old man, and from what it seemed it wasn't the yakuza, since the detective had somehow managed to drop the suitcase to the floor, revealing the contents ─ a bunch of heart-patterned underwear.

He had to do something.

"Excuse, miss," he went with the woman first, an innocent smile on his face. "Have you been to the dining car?"

"No, I haven't," she answered. "Why is that?"

"Oh, it's just that... Woah!" Conan suddenly exclaimed, running to the woman's free seat, next to the window. "This view is so great!"

The woman didn't seem bothered in the sightless. Amused, even.

"Yes, today's weather is lovely," she beamed at the young boy. "You can even see the Mt. Fuji perfectly."

"Eh? Isn't that weird?" the kid asked, innocently. "There's no way you could've seen it!"

"What?" she blinked.

"This is the ocean side," the child's eyes sharpened. "Are you sure you weren't on the dining car?"

When the woman said nothing in response, the child stood on the empty seat and peered behind, where Kogoro was uselessly trying to get the attention from the deaf old man.

"Occhan, I found the bomb."

"Eh?!" both the woman and the detective cried, in surprise.

Soon, the train was stopped and the bomb disarming squad came. Danger was averted and the woman went to jail, yet there was nothing she could tell them about the men she had made the deal with.

It was as if they had vanished into a deep fog.

Nobody was hurt, however. And, really, he should be glad things had turned out this way.

But there was something that confused the child, something that made his mind wonder and wonder, and his detective blood to crave for the answer...

"By the way, Ran-neechan," the child spoke for the first time since they boarded the ship towards Tsukikage Island. "How did you know I was telling the truth?"

Ran giggled and Conan could only stare cluelessly back at her.

"Because I trust you, Conan-kun," the girl then kneeled down in front of him, and poked his nose playfully. "You're a very smart little boy. You wouldn't say something like that unless it's the one and only truth, right?"

"... Right," he replied, softly.

"There you go, then."

And then she smiled, in a way that would reduce his brother into a stuttering mess at the sight of it. Conan stared at her for a moment, and then a shy little grin made its appearance.

It really felt good to be trusted by a grown up once in a while.

* * *

Before they knew it, they had finally arrived.

It had been quite a shock when they were told that Asou Keiji had been dead for a few years now, burnt alive as he played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on his piano, as the flames danced all around him.

After killing her daughter and wife, for some reason.

"What a terrible prank," Kogoro complained, loudly, as the trio sat on a bench at the park.

"I seriously think this isn't the case," the kid said, nonchalantly. "If it was, they wouldn't have paid all costs for us just for a prank, besides..." he pointed at the letter crumbled in Kogoro's hands. "The postmark is from this island."

"You're right..." the man blinked, in surprise, alongside his daughter.

"But I bet you had already figured it out," his smirk, however, said he actually didn't. "Right, Occhan?"

"There you go again with 'Occhan'," Kogoro groaned. "You should have more respect with your elders."

"Oh, sorry, _Jii-chan_."

It wasn't long until the youngster felt an incredible amount of pain coming from the top of his head. He cried at the impact and then glared at the man who had just hit him, hands still on top of the place where it hurt.

"Dad!" scolded Ran, instantly, and worriedly rushed to Conan. "Be a little easier on him. He's only a child."

"It wasn't that bad," Kogoro scowled.

"It hurts a lot, actually," Conan frowned.

"Don't be that sensitive, brat."

The kid was about to reply, when he hissed in pain after Ran touched him in a very sore spot as she checked him over. "This will leave a bruise," she sighed, and gave her father a very dark look. "It looks like it _does _hurt a lot."

"... O-Oh," he stuttered. "I'm sorry."

Conan wanted to stuck his tongue at him so badly, but now he knew better than to test his limits any further. Meanwhile, Ran scooped him on her arms, eyes not looking away from the developing bump on his head.

"We need some ice," she declared, looking around. "Where...?"

Her eyes went to a small building across the street, where she could read 'Doctor Asai Narumi' on the front and smiled to herself. She went there without thinking, and her father followed without complaining.

"Excuse me," the girl knocked on the door of the small clinic twice.

The door opened a few seconds later, and a young man appeared. His chocolate hair barely reached his shoulders, eyes were dark brown and he seemed to be around Ran's age, Conan noticed.

The kid blinked, confused. He could have sworn that, for less than a second, the teen's eyes widened slightly in surprise, before returning to a neutral expression.

"Asai... Narumi-sensei...?" Ran was mostly puzzled. She could've sworn that _Narumi _was a female name.

"Oh, no, no. Narumi-sensei is out, but she will be here in any minute," he laughed, once he seemed understand what was going on, and let the trio in. Instantly after entering, the kid started to look around the place, curiously, taking on his surroundings. "I'm Hirai Arthur, Narumi-sensei's assistant."

Without meaning to, Arthur flinched when the child's all-too-knowing shifted away the random health-care poster in the wall to his face, at the mere mention of his name. The teen pretended not to notice, and kept on talking.

"So," all in all, the older boy seemed to keep his cool, even as he turned to Conan with a kind smile. "Is something wrong with this young man over there?"

"It's nothing serious," Ran explained. "He just hit his head."

"Let me take a look."

The girl let the child sit on the sofa while Arthur went to take a closer look. He fought a relieved sigh when he felt the kid's gaze tear away from his face, mostly because Arthur wouldn't be able to check him if he kept staring.

"Well, it seems like you managed to hit your head pretty hard."

"Oh, really?" Ran glared at her father. "I _wonder _how did that happen."

Kogoro looked away, pointedly ignoring that comment.

On the other hand, while Arthur treated his bump with utmost care, Conan kept strangely still, gazing blankly in front of him, yet not seeing anything as he sat there, deep in thought.

He frowned, but didn't say anything.

"Press this against your head," Arthur instructed him, handing him a ice pack.

"Okay," the kid did as he was told. "Say, Arthur-san, do you know where the community center is?"

Kogoro stared at him, an eyebrow raised. Ran, in the other hand, brightened.

"I see," she explained to her father. "The mayor might know something about Asou-san. They said they used to be good friends."

Before the male teen could reply, the door of the small clinic opened, and four sets of eyes went to that direction to observe a woman walking inside, blinking a bit at the people she didn't remember seeing before.

"Narumi-sensei," Arthur greeted. "Welcome back."

"Oh, hello, Arthur-kun," she then looked at Conan. "Who is our little patient there?"

"He's Edogawa Conan," Ran stood up, then motioned to her father. "That is my father, Mouri Kogoro, and my name is Mouri Ran."

"They were asking where the community centre is," Arthur added.

"Oh, are you from the mainland?"

"Tokyo," Conan replied easily.

It turned out that the doctor also was from Tokyo but had moved to that island not long ago. They quickly fell into a friendly chat, and the trio learned that the elections were going to take place soon, and that today was the anniversary of the last mayor's death.

* * *

It had been a quite the struggle to pass through the crowd, that was angrily manifesting themselves against the current mayor, but eventually succeeded.

Currently they were in front of an old piano, where the deceased mayor had been found, lying dead across the keyboard due to a heart attack.

Ran was terrified, shaking and face turning white as she listened to the Hirata, the secretary, telling them the story.

Then he told them that he had heard the piano playing, and it was the melody the reason he had found the body. It didn't help at all with Ran's latent fear.

"It was the same song Asou-san played as his house burned around him," he added. "Moonlight Sonata."

"It's cursed..." Ran breathed out, then paled even more when the piano started playing out the blue.

Conan was there, hitting the keys without a care of the world. "Doesn't look too cursed to me," he commented, before the was suddenly plucked by the girl. He looked at her with a teasing grin. "Don't tell me you are scared of ghosts, Ran-neechan?"

"Of course I am," she huffed, as she walked outside, holding the child on the air by his armpits. "And here I thought that you were the sensitive one, between you and that detective freak."

There was a loud sneeze, so they turned to their right to see Narumi, her assistant and another man walking down the corridor, towards their group.

"Narumi-san and Hirai-san?" Ran blinked, setting the child down. "Are you coming to the funeral?"

"Only Narumi-sensei, actually," Conan noticed Arthur weeping his nose, quite viciously, even as he spoke. "I just wanted to check something."

"Check what?" asked Conan, with a curious look.

"That piano," the boy turned to the same piano Conan had just been playing with. "They say two people were playing it when they died, isn't that mysterious?"

"I would say it's creepy," Ran commented.

The child barely paid attention as the doctor introduced the man beside her, Shimizu Masato, as he was mostly preoccupied with that suspicious boy. He didn't let go, even when he stood outside with the Mouri family, waiting for the funeral to be over.

Conan opened his mouth, to finally ask what he had meant to ask since he first saw him, but he couldn't.

Because the Moonlight Sonata started playing.

And someone else ceased to exist.

* * *

Hirai Arthur was a very interesting individual, Conan decided.

Once his eyes fell in the body they had narrowed, and did not move a muscle until Kogoro confirmed that Kawashima was dead. Then, he had calmly asked Ran to go to the police station and Narumi to do an examination, before starting to look around for clues.

It was amusing, though, to see Kogoro blink owlishly as a boy half his own age was doing his job with such an ease.

The child kneeled down in front of the puddle of water that was under the body, stuck a finger on it, and licked.

"What are you doing, Conan-kun?" the kid only looked up, and was not surprised to see Arthur crouched down next to him. "Did you find something?"

"It's sea water," he confirmed, then watched water trial, and noticed that it lead to the door. "Most likely he was drown at the beach and brought back here by the killer."

"That's what I thought as well," the teen looked at the windows. "The windows are locked, so the killer must be inside this room."

"And it most likely a man. A woman couldn't have drown and carry a grown man back inside in such a short period of time all by herself," Conan added. "That leaves Kuroiwa-san and Narumi-sensei out of the suspect list."

For some reason, Arthur shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "Narumi-sensei is still a suspect."

"Huh?"

The boy looked at the kid at his eyes. "She's trans."

Soon, Narumi's examination confirmed the victim had been drown, but she couldn't say for sure without a proper autopsy. Arthur nodded and started interrogating the people in the room.

Conan could only stare at him, silently, while he worked. He moved quickly, and very efficiently.

_Like a true detective._

Kogoro found a strange music sheet beside the dead body, but they couldn't decipher it. It didn't fail to make a guy called Nishimoto run away, frightened.

Since it was getting nowhere, they decided to call it a day and head back to the inn. Conan nodded, and was about to leave as well, when he froze in place, out the blue.

Realization had suddenly struck him, washing over him like a bucket of cold water.

"Conan-kun?" Ran turned to him, concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"The shadows of the Tsukikage Island..." his eyes were wide as he mumbled, more to himself than to somebody else. "... will once again begin to vanish."

"What are you talking about?" Narumi asked, confused.

"There was a letter addressed to my father and that was it said," Ran explained both to the doctor and her assistant. "It said it was from Asou Keiji, but..."

Arthur's eyes narrowed, while Kogoro quickly fished his letter out of his pocket. The child, meanwhile, brought his hand to his chin, deep in thought.

"Shadows vanishing might mean being surrounded in light," he reasoned. "The Moonlight Sonata was playing after Kawashima-san was killed, while Asou Keiji was dying, and before Kameyama-san had a heart attack... "

"Wait a second," Ran pipped in. "If the letter says 'begin to vanish', then..."

Kogoro gasped while Arthur frowned and Narumi brought a hand on her chest, clearly distressed.

"Yes," said Conan, with a very serious expression on his face. "The murders aren't over yet."

* * *

Sadly, Conan had been right. Soon enough, the second movement of Moonlight had sounded on their ears, and the current mayor, Kuroiwa Tatsuji, had been found dead in the broadcasting room, a knife stabbed on his back.

There was something on the floor, and it resembled a musical sheet.

This time around, Conan understood what it meant.

"_You realize it, don't you? You're next."_

Once he understood the trick, Arthur also realized the message left behind on the other murder.

"_The hellfire of hatred has made you pay."_

Nishimoto freaked out again, claiming that Asou Keiji was still alive, until the policeman told them that they had found his rests on the burned house, so there was no way he was still with the living.

"All that was left from that fire was the sheet music he put into a safe."

"Where is it?!" Kogoro yelled. "Where is that sheet music?!"

"In the storeroom in the community center storeroom..."

"Okay, go and bring it back!" Megure ordered.

Arthur stepped up. "Wait a moment," he said. "I'll help you look."

The policeman seemed to be relieved. "Thank you very much."

"No, it's okay," he then turned to Conan, who blinked in return. "Are you coming with us, child detective?"

Conan paused, before he composed himself and let a big, bright smile made its appearance on his little face.

"Okay!" he nodded, eagerly.

Then both Arthur and the policeman started to walk away, the child following close behind.

Had they been looking, however, they wouldn't have missed the way Conan's sharp eyes narrowed in suspicion, burning holes into the back of the young doctor's assistant.


	9. Lost in a Sea of Flames

**File Nine: Lost in a Sea of Flames**

"It wasn't you, was it?"

Doctor Narumi paused bandaging Hirata Kazuaki's head ─ the man had, after all, been hit in the head with a blunt object, next to the piano before, culprit fleed the room by jumping out the window ─ to give the teenager a questioning look.

Conan, who had seen him running away, was now on the other room with Kogoro, as the third murder had been committed and the body found before the third movement could be played.

"Arthur-kun...?" she said, in a hushed whisper. "You are suspecting me, aren't you?"

There was a look on his eyes, that not even the doctor could read.

"I have tried not to, I really did," he confessed with a sigh. "But the victims... and your father's mysterious death... I mean..."

Once she finished healing the man, Narumi stood up and glanced at the boy, lips pressed together in a thin line.

"I've become a doctor to _save _lives," she stressed out, her voice raising like it had never before. "I'm not the kind of person that would take it away from someone else, Arthur-kun."

The boy paused. "No," he sighed. "You are not."

With a curt nod, the woman walked away, yet her assistant didn't follow. For a few moments, Arthur just sat there, in silence, clenching his fists over his lap while he stared at the unconscious man.

_At least, I hope you are not._

* * *

Conan wasn't surprised in the sightless when he saw Arthur beside him, again, standing next to the piano while the child crouched down underneath it, after coming to a sudden realization upon the sight of a tuning hammer lying next to Murasawa.

He tried to ignore him, as he opened a secret compartment. Arthur bended down and blinked twice.

"A hidden drawer?" the teen whispered.

Conan's eyes fell to the ground, noticing some kind of powder lying around the floor, and gave it a experimental lick.

"This is..." he turned to Arthur, with a shocked expression. "This is cocaine, Arthur-san!"

"Co-?!" he spluttered, clearly surprised. "And you _licked _it?!"

"Well, yes."

The teen was quick drag the child away from that spot, raise him into the air and sit him on top of the piano. There was a bored expression in Conan's eyes as he watched the teenager scold him with all the sternness of a mother hen.

"Police do it all the time," the child said to him, with a plain voice, once the teen had calmed down enough to have a somewhat proper conversation. "I'm truly surprised you don't know that, considering you're a detective."

Arthur was left completely speechless, so he simply groaned, hand on his face, and walked out the room before he could lose his patience. The little boy did not question him, and hopped off the piano and into the ground.

A more serious expression soon took place on Conan's face as he followed after him.

The teenage boy hadn't denied being a detective.

_I can't still say for sure. I need evidence._

Sighing to himself, he decided to leave the adults alone, who were watching photos of the crime scene, and follow Murasawa outside.

There, he innocently pointed out the white powder on his sleeve, causing the man to drop his change. _Foreign money, _he noted, and decided to leave the man leave for now, as he spotted the policeman, gasping for breath, holding into an envelope, sweating like he had just been running.

Which he probably had.

"I finally found them!" he shouted. "The papers Asou-san left behind twelve years ago!"

"Eh?!"

Before the adult could protest, the child whisked the papers away from him. He froze, eyes stuck on the music sheet in front of him.

"_To my son, Seiji."_

"Officer-san?"

"Yes?"

"Did Asou-san have a son?"

"Ah, yes," he smiled at the memory. "He fell quite ill when he was young and had to be hospitalized... I think his name was Seiji... Where are you going, boy?!"

* * *

Conan found Arthur on the conference room, his gaze lingering on the place where the body had been found ─ the control panel ─ with an unreadable look on his face. He paid no mind however and stepped ahead.

"The killer is Narumi-sensei," it was not a question.

There was no surprise on Hirai's face, just resignation. "I feared so," he said, with an humorless chuckle. "I really hoped she wasn't the murderer, but proof is staring me right in the face."

Conan closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Silently, he walked closer and just stood there for a few moments, until he decided to speak.

"Even if it is painful and incredibly sad, there is one and only truth," the child said, softly, his eyes staring at the chair where the body had been discovered just a few hours ago. "And it must always shine through. That's what my brother used to tell me all the time, at least."

Without saying anything, he handed the older boy the music sheets he had taken from the officer, and watched as the teen's downbeat expression morphed to surprise. Then, he met Conan's eyes.

"You know what it is the right thing to do," the kid said. "Don't you, Arthur-san?"

After a few moments of reconsidering it, Arthur nodded to to the youngster and walked closer to the microphone. When he was ready, Conan pushed to button.

Arthur's voice sounded through the room as he explained everything. He told everyone that Hirata was a drug dealer, who had scared everyone off the piano stories where he hid the cocaine with ghost stories, and that Murasawa had been attacked by him because he had seen it, and thus it endangered his deals.

But he was not the killer.

He stated that murdered was someone who had tricked everyone. That who had lied about the time of death.

"It was you," Arthur's eyes slowly closed. "It could have been only you, Narumi-sensei."

Arthur hesitated when he was about to tell them the motive, for some reason. He didn't get to, however, because the culprit had suddenly vanished in the middle of his deduction.

Panicking a bit, he turned around, only to realize that he was all alone in that small room.

The papers were gone, also.

* * *

Conan wasn't thinking straight when he ran into the fire, clutching Asou Keiji's dying message tightly against his chest as he fervently looked for the doctor, and following the gentle piano melody until it suddenly stopped.

_Please, _that was the only thought that was currently going through his head. _Please, be okay._

He found her quickly, head pressed against the keyboard in such a way that Conan feared he had been too late. When she pressed the last key, however, he realized she was still alive.

"It's over," her voice broke. "It's over, father."

"It's not," only then, she noticed the boy standing on the doorframe. "You don't have to die, Narumi-san."

Despite the situation they were in, Narumi smiled gently. "It's Seiji."

"Seiji-san, your father left this for you," Conan forced a sad smile. "It says _'Seiji, you must live a full life'_, that's why..."

"Oh, I see," Seiji sighed heavily. "That's too bad. Had I known about it earlier, I probably wouldn't have..."

"You didn't know?" Conan was visually confused. "Then, how did you...?"

"I always knew that my father's death was unnatural," he replied. "After graduating, I came to this island as a female doctor."

He wanted to continue explaining, but then the doctor started to cough, clearly intoxicated by the smoke. Conan, in turn, frowned and looked around for quick way out. Seiji wouldn't make it if they were to leave from the front door.

_That's it, _he looked at the window beside Seiji and bent down to activate his shoes.

The sound of glass breaking made Seiji look up, just to see Conan's foot raised, as if he had just kicked something. A look to the other one, which was barefoot was enough for him to realize that the kid had kicked his own shoe and somehow broken the window.

His father's letter had been left forgotten on the floor.

"We can still make it," the child pleaded. "So, please, Seiji-san..."

Seiji smiled warmly at the young boy who was desperately trying to save a murderer like he was and stood up. He lifted him into the air, surprising him a bit, and said:

"It's too late," he told him. "My hands, like theirs, are already tainted with blood."

He was about to throw him away from the flames and back to safety, but he couldn't. A wave of dizziness suddenly washed all over him, leaving him weak enough for the boy to drop back to ground and push him into the window heind.

His body fell outside. That was all Seiji remembered before he blacked out.

Conan, on the other hand, sighed in relief as he put the lid of his watch back on place, and smiled when he watched Ran, Kogoro and Arthur standing a safe distance away. The teenage boy instantly took off running to their spot, to help them out, and the child stepped closer to the window, with all the intention to climb it.

When the fire suddenly reached the silk curtains. Soon he was standing in front of a wall of flames, so that he had to jump back in order not to get burned.

"CONAN!" he could hear Arthur screaming outside the building.

Conan cursed, in such a way that no seven year-old should and definitely would get him grounded for a month if Ran heard.

On his defense, he was pretty much screwed.

Knowing there was no other way out, Conan dropped into the floor and started crawling towards the exit.

If Conan had to describe his surroundings in a single word, it would probably be _inferno. _The flames danced around the place, licking the entire house as if they wanted to play and burning everything on sight; the old piano, family framed photos, and probably Seiji's father message, Conan noted. He paid no mind to that, and continued to move.

Eventually, the black smoke began to fill the child's lungs, prompting him to cough viciously, tears collecting on the rim of his eyes. He noticed, with a grimace, that his movements were slowing down, and that his vision was starting to blur ─ even if he was still wearing his thick glasses.

_... Will I die... here?_

Then, his friends' faces filled his tired mind. Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko ─ the three of them were there, sitting beside him on class, while laughing with each other.

Soon, his parents followed, and so did Professor Agasa. He even pictured Kogoro, looking away from an angry Ran, who suddenly turned around and opened her eyes, wide, when she noticed him standing there. She smiled, warmly and brightly at him.

_I can't let this end here... I can't..._

However, it seemed like the immense heat and lack of oxygen wouldn't let him. The flames didn't stop dancing, surrounding him to the point he wasn't able to tell right from left anymore.

_Damn it, _he cursed, when his body wouldn't move anymore. _I have... I have... to get out of here..._

Darkness was closing on him. He cursed his fate once more as just lied there, lost in a sea of flames, while his ears started ringing.

Everything was fading.

Then he saw his brother's back, standing in the distance, looking over his shoulder and grinning at him. But then, the little boy noticed his smile was forced. Sad.

Very slowly, Shinichi began to walk away, gradually disappearing into a black background until he was gone.

"... Conan..." there was this voice calling for him, urgently, but it was so far away that he didn't think he could reach it. It kept calling, over and over, until he could somewhat understand what it was saying. "... You can't give up here, Conan!"

He was slowly becoming aware of the chest he was being cradled to, the hand pressing his body tightly against it, the piece of cloth ─ _a jacket? ─ _draped over his entire frame, protecting him from the flames that made themselves known by that terrible heat.

And whoever was carrying him was still speaking to him, rather quickly, pleading him to say something, _anything._

_... This voice..._

A tiny fist weakly clenched around this person's shirt. "... Onii... chan...?" came the dreamy reply, so softly that the person speaking to him almost missed it.

There was a sigh of relief. Or maybe Conan just imagined it.

"Just hold on a little longer, okay buddy? We're definitely making it out of here."

Conan could've sworn that he had heard that sentence before, but maybe the heat was just messing with his head. He didn't get to ponder about it any longer, because he passed out soon thereafter.

His eyes did not flutter open until an undetermined amount of time later. The room was unfocused and for a moment, he couldn't see anything. He only managed a tired groan.

A blurred figure moved at the sound.

"Conan-kun?" it was Ran's distinct, gentle whisper. His eyes focused on her face.

"Ran... neechan...?"

She smiled tiredly and smoothed back some of his hair. It was only then that he started to realize where he was. He was currently lying on a bed, and by the gentle movement he could deduce they were on a boat. Probably a ship back to mainland.

"That was too reckless," she scolded without any real anger. "You are so lucky Hirai-san found you when he did, because if he didn't... Hey, you can't be up yet!"

Ran grabbed onto his shoulders, keeping him in bed and refraining the kid from sitting up. There was a wild look on his eyes, however, that made her feel uneasy.

"Where is he?" it was like his life depended on it. "Where is Arthur-san?"

"He treated you, but he decided to stay on the island for a while," she explained. "He said that he wanted to make sure the people would be okay even if their only doctor is gone."

She released him when it seemed like he wasn't going to suddenly jump off his bed and leaned back on her chair, sighing heavily. "Still, I didn't expect the murderer to be Narumi-san," Ran said with a sad voice. "I wonder why had she done such a thing... She didn't want to tell me."

_Seiji-san didn't tell anyone, _Conan looked at her, confused. _Why?_

"You know, back then, when Hirai-san did his deduction, for a moment..." tears were collecting on her eyes. "For a moment, I really thought he was your brother."

Conan could only stare silently.

"But that's so silly, isn't it?" she gave him a watery laugh. "Just because they sound similar doesn't mean they are the same person, right?"

His mouth opened to speak, but at the sight of the single crystal tear rolling down her cheek, he clamped his mouth shut.

"... Right," he just nodded.

If Conan told her what he had been thinking, she might just miss him even more, he realized.

It wouldn't be fair.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that Ran finally let him out of bed.

Conan was aimlessly wandering through the ship, when music filled the room. It was the Moonlight Sonata alright, but this time around he knew nobody was killed. It had a gentle yet melancholic touch to it, which prompted him to set looking for the source.

"Seiji-san?"

Seiji gave him a brief smile, but didn't stop. He looked at the seat beside him and motioned the boy to sit. Conan understood right away and did as he was told.

It was pretty convenient that there was a piano aboard, he mused.

"You didn't tell anyone," Conan spoke after a moment. "That you are actually Asou Seiji."

Seiji paused, and let his shoulders drop.

"I couldn't help it," he explained. "After all I have illegally changed my name. I don't want to get my sentence extended because of it."

"Illegally?" his eyebrows raised, in surprise. "Why would you do that?"

Seiji got serious all of sudden. "I got into big trouble once and I had to change my identity."

The child frowned at that, but decided not to press him any further. Instead of that, Seiji's hands moved across the keyboard, and continued to play the sonata his father loved so much, and died while playing it.

He explained to the child his motive, since he hadn't been able to at the fire. It turned out his father and the other four had been involved in some shady business concerning drug dealing, and that at some point Keiji wanted to go out. He had been killed, alongside his family, by them not long thereafter.

The late mayor had told him the story, terrified after learning he was the missing son, before dying by a heart attack.

"Then you sent that letter to Kogoro-ojisan. You wanted him to stop you," Conan concluded, only to be met with silence. "Do you regret what you have done?"

"I was blinded by fury and acted in a way no doctor should. I thought the only way I could redeem myself was to let the flames burn my soul away," he confessed. "But my father's words, and your courage, made me realize that was not the right way. I need to serve my time, and then go back to being Doctor Narumi. I want to help people this time around. "

Seiji turned to a blinking Conan and smiled, sweetly, just in time for Ran to come inside the room to pick him up. She said that there were going to arrive at their destination anytime soon.

"Ah, and Conan-kun," Seiji called before he could leave. "If you see Arthur-kun around, please tell him that this is only consequence of my own actions. He's not to blame."

"Shouldn't you be the one telling him that?" he asked, innocently. "I don't think I will see him around any time soon."

"You will," he was completely certain of what he was saying. "Sooner than you expect."

With an uncertain nod and a timid smile, the child got off his seat at began to follow Ran out the room. As he left the room, music started to fill the room once again.

This time around, however, it wasn't the Moonlight Sonata, or anything of that sort. It was a code, which Conan immediately understood.

"_Thank you, little detective."_

* * *

In the blink of an eye, it was Christmas' Eve.

Snow fell on top of the child's head as he walked down the road. He had just sneaked off Ran's watch, who certainly didn't want him running around when they were going to attend a party at Agasa's in less than an hour.

Honestly, he didn't feel in the mood for a party.

The events of Tsukikage Island just wouldn't let him alone. The murders he hadn't been able to prevent and the mystery surrounding Hirai Arthur were still fresh in his mind.

_Is he really...?_

Conan let out a long sigh, exhausted from thinking too much, as he waited for the light to change.

"That wasn't fair," _that _voice filled his ears.

His lungs froze, eyes darting to the source of the voice he knew so well.

What he found wasn't quite what he was expecting.

"Why are you so shaken?" there was a girl teasing a guy as they walked past him. "It was only fish."

"Aaah! Don't say that word again!" it was that same voice, but it was a somebody else, he noticed. "You're evil, Aoko. Evil, I tell you!"

Conan stared at the boy that certainly resembled his brother a lot, yet was a different person altogether, and let his shoulders drop. Maybe Ran hadn't been completely wrong when she said it was pointless to recognize somebody else because they have a similar voice.

The child just stood there, silently, as he watched the couple walk away, before continuing his way.

Little hands pushed the heavy gates he had not touched ever since that dangerous encounter with the men in black, and fished out the key from his pocket. Once inside the house, he could feel himself beginning to warm up a bit.

Everything was exactly the way he remembered it.

The old sofa in front of the fireplace, which hadn't been lighted up in ages, where he remembered his father telling a younger Shinichi and Conan a story about a detective and a thief that once helped each other, as they impatiently waited for Christmas to come.

The kitchen, where his mother would bake delicious cookies, which she would have to protect from a pair of mischievous and very hungry brothers that would steal them in a heartbeat.

Without fully meaning to, Conan wandered to the library, a place full of memories. A place where his brother would play with him, teach him stuff and then read for him, because he wasn't old enough to read, until he fell asleep on the spot from complete exhaustion.

If he closed his eyes, Conan would see a home. Full of laughter and people.

But if he opened them, Conan would see an abandoned house. Silent and sad.

And then he sat in the middle of the big and empty library. Alone.

_Shinichi-niichan, _he drew his knees closer to his chest as he hugged them. _Just... Just where are you now?_

Quietness was broken when his phone started ringing. Sighing to himself, he pulled it off his pants' pocket, reading himself for the month-long scolding he was going to receive from Ran for running away so suddenly.

When he looked at the screen, however, he was surprised to see something different than Ran's name glaring angrily at him.

"_Unknown Caller"_

For a moment, he hesitated, his finger wavering over the red button. He wasn't in the mood for stupid pranks or silly criminals, but there was a feeble feeling on the pit of his stomach that told him that this was serious. That he _needed _to take the call.

Eventually, he did.

"What is it?" Conan said, annoyment evident as he spoke.

"Conan, it's me," the child was startled by the cheerful voice on the other side. "Merry Christmas."

This time around, Conan somehow _knew _his brother was speaking. For a moment, he paused, frozen in place and forgetting how to breath, completely stunned.

"Conan? Is everything okay?"

The kid recovered and smirked.

"That's what I should be asking you," the child shot back. "What's wrong with you? It isn't even Christmas yet."

"You never change, do you?" Shinichi laughed, wholeheartedly. "And here I thought you would be a little bit concerned about me, at the very least."

"Aren't you old enough to take care of yourself?" he snorted. "Where have you been all this time, by the way?"

"Ah, there's this difficult case I still haven't been able to solve," Conan's eyes narrowed at that. "And my phone broke suddenly. I haven't been able to buy another one until today."

_But why is your caller ID masked if it's just a case? _he would have asked, but knew the answer already.

Though, he figured out it might be for the best if he just played along for the time being. Shinichi was involved with very dangerous people. If he knew his little brother was currently trying to investigate them, he might as well ship him off to Germany or, worse, send him back to his parents in America.

"It will be over soon," Shinichi added. "I'll return in no time, I promise."

"You better," the child replied. "By the way, you should give Ran-neechan a call. Even if she's pretending she is not, she's worried sick about you."

"I will, don't worry," even if he couldn't see him, Conan was sure there was a smile on his brother's face. "You know, Conan. Remember that time you lied about staying at Genta-kun's for the night?"

"Oh, so you really saw through it? Well done, detective."

"I thought it was because you hated me," he continued, ignoring him. "But it was because you wanted me to be alone with Ran, right?"

"What can I say?" there was a big, teasing smile as the kid talked, sitting cross-legged now. "For a detective, you're rather slow when it concerns your love life."

He could see in his mind Shinichi's head shaking as he sighed, his cheeks tinted with a lovely shade red. The child only laughed, louder.

"I'm sorry, Conan," the kid went instantly serious at the quietness of his voice. "I really couldn't get you anything for Christmas."

"It's alright," Conan smiled, warmly, as he gently held the phone with both hands. "I'm just glad you are okay, Onii-chan."

And, in reality, that was the best gift he could ever have.

Shinichi was silent for a second, probably taken away by the way he was addressed, before letting out a content, soft laugh.

The call eventually came into an end, and Conan left the room, feeling lighter and happier than before. He found Ran as soon as he opened the door and, instead of an angry tirade ─ which was pretty much what Conan had been expecting ─ the girl just smiled compassionately, probably having figured out what he had been doing in there in the first place.

"Let's go, Conan-kun," she offered her hand.

And he took it without hesitation.

* * *

A/N:

Yose Hyuann: I really liked that suggestion, it's quite sweet indeed! I will take it in consideration when I write the final chapter. Thank you!


	10. Little Bloody Hands

**File Ten: Little Bloody Hands**

"... Then, Yoshida-san thought it was a good idea to hid inside the trunk of someone else's car. It speeded off before we could find her," Conan told his brother over the phone, while he absentmindedly went through the newspaper. "And told us over the detective badge that there was a head beside her."

"A head?!" Shinichi gasped, obviously too engrossed in the story. "What did you do?"

"Well, we couldn't really call the police when we really didn't know what was going on," the child shrugged. "So we followed after the car."

"Ah, I see... You should really thank Professor Agasa for making that skateboard for you."

There was a silence, which Shinichi found pretty weird. After what it felt a minute, or so, Conan decided to speak up.

"We called a taxi," Conan said and he was sure that Shinichi must have facepalmed at that. "Onii-chan, did you sleep well?"

"Of course I did."

"... Are into drugs or something?"

"No!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Obviously not-! I mean, yes, I'm definitely sure I'm not!" Shinichi groaned. "Why am I even discussing these kinds of things with a seven year-old brat?"

"Then, how in the world did you think it would be a good idea to ride with two other boys a solar powered skateboard through traffic in the middle of Tokyo?" Conan raised an eyebrow. "And what about daylight? What was there to say we would make it before night?"

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "I didn't really think it through."

"Some detective you are..."

"Like you are the one to talk. Considering what Ran told me, you didn't realize the head was fake until much later-"

"Like I said, I'm not a detective," he interrupted him. "And, at the very least, I'm not a stupid and reckless idiot. And with that, I meant '_not you'._"

Shinichi couldn't help but snort at that. "Says the one who practically forced someone to confess a crime by _drinking _a poisoned tea and then refusing to eat cake, which turned out to be the antidote. Ran swears you did it on purpose," Conan could feel the annoyment on Shinichi's voice. "Is there anything you want to say about that?"

"Did Ran-neechan tell you I ate your Valentine's chocolate?" he snickered. "It was yummy."

This time around, Conan basically _heard _the sound of the teen facepalming.

"I'm serious, Conan. I understand you have detective blood running through your veins, but a little bit of sense of self-preservation wouldn't do you any bad."

_Says the one who has gone into hiding for messing with the wrong kind of people._

His eyes focused on another headline and hummed. "... A one billion yen robbery, huh?"

"... Are you even listening to me?"

"Sure, I am. I'm just surprised by the amount of cases that just keep coming every single day."

"You... You better stay out of danger, alright?" the teen finally sighed, suddenly feeling old and exhausted.

With another sound of agreement, Conan ended the call. Just as he did, Agasa walked forward, with a pair of glasses on his hands, identical to those he had on his head. The professor handed them to the child.

"Shinichi is definitely going to kill me," the old man sighed. "He scolds his stubborn brother for getting into trouble... And here I am, giving a pair of tracking glasses to said stubborn child."

"Serves him right, for lying to me," Conan chuckled, changing his glasses. He blinked owlishly a bit, as his vision suddenly blurred. "Hey, Professor, I can't really see anything."

"Oh, sorry, I was trying them out just now," Agasa apologized. "Just turn the dial on the side until you can see."

Conan did as he was told, and soon the world came back into focus. "This is pretty cool," there was a wide smile on his face. "Hey, Professor, how do I use this?"

Agasa found out it was hard not to laugh at the grin the child had as he showed the tracking feature he had put on the glasses, as well as the tiny little transmitter, which Conan could easily hide by sticking it on top of his blazer button.

It was one of those rare instances that the professor could see Conan acting like the young child he was. Even if it was brief, because the kid soon left for home, it warmed the old man's heart.

Until he remembered how irremediably reckless he could be, just like his brother. Sometimes he wondered if by giving him all those gadgets he was actually helping him survive or just making it all worse.

With a long sigh, the old professor went for a cup of coffee.

* * *

Conan certainly hadn't expected a client so soon, yet there she was. When he had opened the door he saw a girl in a school uniform.

Her name was Hirota Masami and she had said she was looking for her missing father, Hirota Kenzou.

There wasn't much information about him, more than his height, age, a photograph, and that he owned four cats named Kai, Tei, Gou and Ou.

"Goukaiteiou," Conan suddenly muttered three days of fruitless search later.

Both father and daughter gave the boy a weird look, wondering if he had gone nuts or something. The kid was, after all, laying on the sofa in Kogoro's office, chuckling to himself while watching TV.

_As if it was that simple..._

Ran looked at the child for a second, then at the TV, and then back to him.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "Conan-kun, you're a genius! Let's go, Dad!"

"... Eh?" Kogoro and Conan blinked at her, staring blankly back at her.

"Hirota-san must love horse racing!" the girl insisted to her father. "He named all his cats after a horse!"

It didn't matter how much he tried to convince her, he still got dragged to the racetrack. Once there, both Kogoro and Conan reluctantly looked around, mostly to humor her rather than believing he would actually be there.

She found him quickly. The males were stunned at the revelation that she had been actually right. Even so, the three decided to not say anything to him and just follow him home.

Masami was there _seconds _after she had been called, gasping for air and sweating bullets as if she had been running. She probably had, Conan realized.

Something else peaked his interest. Ran looked down when she felt the boy poking her leg to gather her attention.

"Say," he said. "Doesn't she seem a little different from before?"

"How so?"

"Her clothes are more grown up, and she's wearing makeup," he pointed out. "She looks like... a different person somehow."

Ran thought about it for a moment. "Maybe she dressed up because she's seeing her father today," she concluded, with a smile.

It did not convince the little child, however. _Hirota-san came in a hurry, _he noted. _She wouldn't had have the time for that._

Maybe that was it... Maybe it was that she _didn't _have the time.

Or maybe he was just overreacting. He didn't have concrete proof after all.

"Aah!" the child suddenly started running. "I forgot! Kamen Yaiba is about to start!"

He pretended to run towards the TV and accidentally bump into the poor girl. While on the floor he managed to stick the transmitter on her wrist watch.

"I'm so sorry, Hirota-san," he quickly apologized, like the embarrassed little child he was _supposed _to be. The girl waved it off with a kind laugh, helping him up, while Kogoro just scolded him for not being careful.

Conan laughed, awkwardly, and hurried to the sofa. He decided to pretend he was actually watching the show, even if he had to pass on accompanying Masami to see her father.

That didn't really bother him as much as it would have a few months ago, since he had actually started to like Kamen Yaiba after his friends had basically forced it on him. A little break from mysteries was nice from time to time.

_I don't think Hirota-san is actually a bad person, _Conan thought, as he heard the three leave through the front door. _But just in case... Better safe than sorry._

Not even ten minutes after the three had left, Conan heard the someone knocking on the door. At first, he tried to ignore it, but this client was definitely not giving up soon, as they keep knocking and knocking.

The child sighed loudly, forcing his eyes to drift away from the television in order to stand up.

"Kogoro-ojisan is not here," said Conan, tone bored, as he opened the door. "He will be back in-"

A strange coldness pressing against his forehead caused him to freeze where he stood. His eyes shifted to the person in front of him, and he paled at the sight of a woman, dressed all in black, holding a gun to his head.

"You'll be fine if you do exactly what I tell you," she gave him a very dark and sinister smile. "Kudo Conan-kun."

His eyes went wide. Only a few knew about his birth name, those being his closest friends, Professor Agasa and the Mouri family. There was also Sonoko, he realized. Being Shinichi's friend since childhood, just like Ran, it would be weird if she didn't. The two girls had basically seen Conan as a newborn.

_Okay, that's actually a lot of people, _the child grimaced. _Even so, I don't think any of them would say anything... So, who...?_

The woman in black stepped back, her gun still pointing at him, and motioned him to step outside. Reluctantly the child obeyed, and started walking downstairs as the gun muzzle pressed against the back of his head. There was a black car outside, parked in front of the building.

Conan cursed when he saw that there wasn't anybody on the usually busy street, which meant nobody could help him at the moment. The woman pushed the kid ahead. "Get in," she instructed.

_If I get into that car, who knows what will happen to me, _Conan gritted his teeth. _What should I do?_

Suddenly, he had an idea. The child yelped as he 'tripped on his feet', knees painfully hitting the ground.

"Ow..." without the woman noticing, he turned the dial on his shoes. "It hurt."

"Hey, boy!" she used her free hand to drag him up.

Deciding it was now or never, the boy kicked her in the shin, prompting her to release him from her grip. "You little..." she hissed, as he stole the weapon from her hands, and took a step forward

"Don't move," the child warned while pointing the gun. "Don't move, or I will shoot!"

Even if he said so, Conan's index finger didn't move, freezing in front of the trigger. When he thought of firing, the gun suddenly felt heavy, and slightly cool against his shaking hands. Throughout it all, the woman's expression hadn't changed at all.

She knew he wasn't going to fire. And that, alone, was incredibly irritating.

His grip on the weapon tightened as the woman laughed, moving her hand to her pocket. He went pale as the snow that fell on top of him when he saw the tip of something shiny and very sharp, that he recognized very well.

"Maybe we should take care ot this..." she waved her knife around. "... the _old _way."

Deciding it wasn't safe to stay there any longer, and that he didn't have the courage to shoot, Conan took off running. He didn't look back for a second as he just focused in escaping. To get away from that dangerous person.

At some point he lost her. Conan breathed out, tiredly, as he poked his head around the corner. He brightened at the sight of Agasa's home and figured out that was the wisest next choice.

He spotted the old man walking down the street, hands full of bags that told him that he probably had just returned from the market.

Without waiting for him to get home, he rushed forward.

"Professor Aga-!" a hand suddenly came from behind and covered his mouth.

Conan panicked for a second at the sickly sweet smell that he knew so well. By the corner of his eye he still could see the woman from before, wearing an evil grin on her face.

As the drug overpowered him, he could not help the feeling of deja vu washing over him. His hand, that had just shot forward in a silent plea of help, suddenly was much smaller. The woman's face morphed and changed. Then, for a slight moment he saw a young man, with a rather sad expression.

Then, his vision blurred and his senses began to swim, yet he kept on fighting with all his might.

Eventually, his struggling grew weaker as the feeling of drowsiness got more prominent, causing Conan to let out a muffled cry out of desperation. It was terrifying to even think about what was going to happen after this woman took him with her.

But soon, he was too tired to even feel fear. His fingers grew slack, and he dimly noticed the gun he had taken from that woman slip from his hand and drop into the ground.

His eyes fluttered close and his extended hand fell limply at his side.

A lone tear rolled down his cheek before he could help it.

"_I'm really sorry, Conan-kun," _the voice filled his ears, yet he couldn't say for sure if he had actually heard it or it was just a product of his own imagination.

The coldness of the snow was the last thing he registered before everything went pitch black.

* * *

His head pounded, that was the first thing he realized when he came back to the waking world. The next thing he noted, with a shiver, was that he was in a place he certainly didn't recognize. It looked like a kitchen, which probably hadn't been used for a few years.

_This can't be happening, _his eyes went wide as he just lied there, motionlessly, staring up the ceiling. Terror began to creep up his neck once more, yet decided to just close his eyes and try to regulate his breathing. _Get a grip on yourself. If you panic now, your chances of escaping will drop considerably._

Standing up, and wobbling a bit because the dizziness that the sudden movement caused, the child walked towards the window. _A second floor, _he gritted his teeth. _That will make it more difficult._

"Still no word from the detective brat?" the sound of a gruff, male voice filled the room.

"No, not yet," it sounded like the woman from before. "He's not answering his phone."

Upon the realization that the sounds came from the other side of the door, the child silently creeped closer, looking through a hole. He could see the woman, phone on her ear, as he spoke with a cloaked figure, his back facing his way, causing the boy not to see his face.

The woman seemed agitated.

"What are we going to do after he picks up?" she asked.

"We will do as the higher ups ordered us to," the man in the cloak answered. "First, we will make the child speak to him. Once the detective realizes we have his precious little brother, he will surely come to us."

Conan could felt the cold sweat dripping down his forehead. _So... I'm a bait._

"The Organization said that, above else, we need to bring the detective alive," the man continued. "So he can be punished and then killed once and for all. That boy must be eliminated. He knows too much for his own good."

_Torture and execution, most likely._

"What about that little kid?"

"We'll shoot him in the head, right in front of Kudo Shinichi's eyes," the way he said that, indifferent and notchantly, sent a shiver down Conan's spine. "That will teach him not to stick his nose on other people's business."

The child gulped, not taking his eyes off the pair dressed in black. _If I don't get out of here soon, not only I will be done for, _he frowned. _Onii-chan, just... What did you do to make these people so angry?_

Suddenly, the man turned around and faced the door. For a moment Conan felt the blood drain from his face at the thought of being discovered, and was about to step away to feign unconsciousness on the floor. Yet, once he properly took a look of the person in question, the child felt his fear fading.

And waited for the man to walk closer.

His kidnapper looked through the hole and paused, clearly not expecting the pair of piercing blue eyes glaring back at him.

"It seems like our little guest has finally woken up," then, the man exclaimed, opening the door and pointing the gun at the child.

He, in turn, did not react. The action seemed to annoy him, even.

"Drop the gun, will you? This is lame," the kid sighed. "It's so painfully obvious that it's fake that almost makes me laugh. Except that this isn't funny at all."

The gun pressed against his temple. The kid didn't bat an eye.

"Does this look like a replica to you?" the man smirked behind his mask.

"It _is _well made," he pointed out. "But I don't think you would be capable to point a real gun to your own son. Isn't that right, Dad?"

The woman was the first one to crack, laughing loudly before she could help herself. She teared the mask off his face, confirming Conan's suspictions. The man did the same.

Kudo Yusaku and Yukiko stood in front of a very irritated Conan.

"How did you realize it?" his mother asked, surprised yet very amused.

"Dad is literally cosplaying as Night Baron and you thought I wouldn't notice?"

By the smug and very annoying smirk his father sent his way, Conan figured that had been his intention on the first place.

"So you didn't recognize me?" Conan walked past her, ignoring the way she puffed her chest up in pride. "If my own son couldn't tell it was me, I must still have it as an actress-"

"Where is my phone?" the boy interrupted, as he searched around the place. "I don't have time for this."

"Is it a case?" her mother asked, curiously. He hummed, absently, while continuing to look for it. "Then, why don't you let Yusaku take care of this?"

Conan did not answer, and only reacted when Yusaku gave his phone. Instantly, he opened it and found a few missed calls from Ran, so he immediately called back.

Once she answered, she told him not to worry, that she just wanted to tell him to be careful when he came back from Agasa's ─ a blatant lie from his mother, he realized when she waved his bowtie at him with a grin ─ because a dangerous man had seemed to lurk in front of the agency. He had turned out to be harmless, though.

The fact that he was a detective, also looking for Hirota Kenzou bothered him, yet he didn't let it show and ended the call soon thereafter.

"So, what is this case about?" Yusaku asked, curiously, as he sat in a chair.

For a moment, Conan stared at him blankly, until he decided to tell him everything that happened the last few days up until the moment he had been kidnapped. He also commented what Ran had told him. At the end of it, Yusaku seemed to be pensive.

Until he smirked. Now he could understand his brother when he said that it was annoying when their father did so. "What?" the child's eyebrow twitched.

"You said that Hirota Masami-san seemed to be a different person last time you saw her, right?" he said. "And you think she was disguising herself, for some reason," Conan nodded at that. "Then there's this man looking for the same person, claiming to be also family."

"Yeah, basically," he replied. "Maybe it is that man who's telling the truth, but..."

"What if they were both lying?"

"Eh?"

"Did you see it in the news?" the father asked further. "The one billion yen robbery just a few weeks ago?"

Then it dawned to him. He didn't say anything, just turned his tracking glasses on and took off running outside the house, ignoring the way his mother scolded him for leaving so suddenly.

"Wait," his father stopped him for leaving. He turned around to see the man holding up a skateboard, similar to the one Agasa had made for him. "Professor Agasa told me to give you this. He said he improved it so that you don't have to worry about sunlight."

Conan nodded with a smile and left quickly. The next moment, he was taking a taxi to Haido Hotel.

He stepped out the car and ran inside, worrying about the fact that the target hadn't moved an inch for a while now. Before he could ask the receptionist about Masami, the doors of the elevator opened and a woman stepped out, carrying a couple of big suitcases. He watched her giving them to the receptionist, before briefly meeting his eyes.

For less than a second, Conan saw her flinch before walking away. By the time he realized she looked _too _much like Hirota Masami, she was jumping inside a taxi.

He rushed outside, but it was too late. The car was leaving in the distance, and it seemed like there was no other taxi available to give her the chase.

Conan glanced at the skateboard tucked under his arm and sighed loudly. _If Onii-chan ever hears about this, he's never going to let me live it down._

Chasing a car through traffic was probably the craziest thing he had done in his life, and he certainly didn't want to do it again. If it wasn't for the adrenaline pumping up on his little body, Conan was sure he would have been twice as scared for his life than now. And that was a lot to say.

He lost her at some point close to the port and growled. _She must be here, _he frowned. _She's got to be in this area!_

That was when he heard a gunshot, making his heart stop for a second and his feet to run faster. He arrived just in time to see Masami collapsing into the ground.

The attacker was nowhere to be found.

"Masami-san!" he slid on his knees, turning her over to see her injuries. There was blood everywhere. "Please, hang on, Masami-san!"

Quickly, he took off his blazer and pressed hard against the wound. The girl groaned and blinked her eyes open.

"Sorry, this will hurt quite a bit," he told her, kindly, as he smiled down at her.

Then, he proceeded to fish his phone from his pocket, with all the intention to call the police when her hand wrapped around his wrist.

"You don't have to be strong for me, little boy. I know I'm dying."

"Please, don't say that," his smile was wavering. "You will..."

He watched her slowly shaking her head.

"You're the little boy from the agency, aren't you?" despite her wounds, she continued to talk. "How did you...?"

"I put a transmitter on your watch," he replied, faintly, after having dropped his phone. He didn't completely give up, though, and kept applying pressure on the gunshot wound. "I followed you to the hotel, and then saw you with those cases."

"Who...?" there was a stunned expression drawn on her sickly pale face. "Just... Who are you?"

"Edogawa... No," he looked right into her eyes. "Kudo Conan, a detective."

The words had rolled down his tongue before he could help himself. A part of his mind told him that he was still too young and naive, that he didn't fit in the shoes of a detective, like Holmes was. No, like his father and brother were.

Yet, when he had said those words, it felt natural. It felt right, somehow.

Her eyes opened slightly, before she smiled, weakly. "I see," she whispered. "So you are that boy..."

Conan did not understand what she was talking about, but he let it slide as she kept on talking.

"The plan was perfect, but everyone died... Hirota-san, whom I hired for his driving skills, and the man who I let into out party because of his strength..." she grimaced in pain. "And then I, at the hands of the Organization..."

"O-Organization...?" he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, for some reason.

"It's a large organization, wrapped in secrecy," she explained softly. "I'm at the very tip of the organization, so all I know is that its colour is black."

"...Black?"

"Yes... They like to wear black... Black clothes that make them look like crows..."

His face lost his colour, instantly remembering those people his brother messed with. Gin, Vodka, the mysterious girl Sherry. If that was true, and there actually was such a big organization behind everything, he didn't really want to think about how many of those people were out there.

"Will you listen... to my final words...?" she pleaded, the hand that still was on his wrist clenching tighter. "Tell the police where the cases are... before they find them... Please..."

He held into her slacking fingers with both hands, and managed a nod. She breathed out in relief.

"I'll leave the rest to you..." said Masami, in a weak whisper. "... little detective..."

Conan silently watched as life faded from her eyes and her hand went limp on his, and for a moment, he didn't move. The child just stood there, as her last words repeated on his mind, over and over again.

Finally, the boy stepped away from the woman and lifted his phone from the ground. "Hello," he said quietly, voice devoid of life and emotion. "Criminal Investigations, Inspector Megure, please."

He didn't quite catch what Megure said after he had explained what happened, but it was something between the lines of '_we'll be there soon' _and '_we will call Ran-kun to pick you up.' _ What he had been sure of, however, was that the inspector had sounded worried and had tried everything in his power to comfort the little child. Not that he managed much, though.

Conan did notice, though, the scarlet liquid that had soaked his phone, and it didn't take him long to realize what it was. With an empty stare, he gazed at his red fingers and waited for the police to come.

Even after they arrived. Even after Ran rushed towards him and hugged the boy tightly against her chest, Conan did not react.

He just stared, deadly silent, at his little bloody hands.

* * *

A/N:

Lieutenant Myst: Honestly, I don't really know myself, lol. As it is now, I'm planning to cover until around chapter 1005 then divert from canon there, but I might change my mind before I reach that part.


	11. To Say Goodbye

**File Eleven: To Say Goodbye**

Roughly one day after Masami's tragic death, Conan sat on the couch of his old house, glaring at his parents who, in turn, just smiled awkwardly under his very angry stare.

"So," the child said after a full minute of silence. "Will you tell me what are you two doing here?"

"Why, Co-chan?" his mother grinned. "We wanted to see you-"

"You mean _kidnap_."

"Well, when you put it like that..."

Conan's eyebrow twitched. He was very annoyed by the fact that he, a mere seven year-old, seemed to be the mature one between the three.

"Calm down, Co-chan, you don't have to be so angry."

"What did you expect?" his voice was dangerously low. "You basically pointed a gun, threatened to stab, drugged, kidnapped and then pointed a gun again to your own son. So, excuse me if I am a _little bit_ angry about the chain of events."

"In our defense, the gun was fake, like you have pointed out," Yusaku added.

"Still...!" the boy looked away, and his voice dropped. "It was... scary."

His parents quietened down, smiles disappearing from their faces. His father looked a bit apologetic while her mother slowly walked closer, sitting beside his upset child.

"I'm sorry," Conan blinked up at her, noticing the genuine pain on her voice. "I made you remember something really bad, didn't I?"

Realizing that he couldn't really hide anything from his mother, Conan silently nodded. Yukiko apologized again, resting her hand on top of his and giving him a squeeze. His father had also walked to them, and then sat on his other side, stroking his head lovingly.

"Hey, Mom, Dad, can I ask something?" he asked quietly. Yukiko noted the way the hand beneath hers clenched slightly. "What exactly... happened three years ago?"

The Kudo couple froze at the question, and the child kind expected that. It had been a touchy subject ever since it had happened, and nobody really liked to talk about it.

"How much do you remember?" his father asked, cautiously.

"Not much," he confessed. "I was four and kidnapped by my kindergartner teacher. I woke up in a hospital bed a week later, with little to no recollection of what had actually happened to me."

His mother smiled, yet it seemed so obviously fake that Conan could not bring himself to believe it. She was sad, terribly sad, for some reason.

"And that's all that there's to it," she said, tenderly brushing his bangs from his forehead. "That criminal committed suicide inside prison. He won't harm you anymore, Co-chan."

"But I feel like there's more to it," the child protested. "There's something else... And I don't seem to remember it."

"It will be best not to push it," his father told him, seriously. "If your mind decided to forget something, there's probably a good reason behind it. You'll be better off not remembering it, whatever that is."

Conan wanted to keep arguing, but decided against it. Even if he didn't like it, his father was probably right. He figured, however, that his curious mind would never stop wondering and wondering until he could finally grasp the truth.

Still, for now, he figured it might be for the best to just let it go.

"We're sorry we scared you yesterday, but there's a reason behind it," Yusaku said after a long pause. "We did this to show you how dangerous your situation is."

"You see, we came back to Japan for a visit and didn't find neither you nor your brother at home," Yukiko explained. "The Professor told us about Shin-chan's disappearance and that you are playing detective with such a scary group of people."

"I'm not _playing..._"

"What we meant to say is that we want you to come back home with us," Yusaku explained.

Conan just stared at his father, blinkling. "What do you...?"

"We're taking you back to America."

It took a couple of seconds, but the words eventually sank in his mind. The little boy, however, didn't react to that. He didn't _know _how he was supposed to react.

_After everything I have been through... I have to go back to America?_

All of sudden, he wasn't Edogawa Conan, the overly intelligent little boy that was growing to become a great detective, but Kudo Conan, a lost little boy that simply had no idea of what he was supposed to do. Or what he wanted, honestly.

But, even if their parenting methods were questionable at best, these people were, indeed, his parents. He didn't really have any say on that.

"Just give me a day," the child said, eyes focused on the ground. "There are... a few things I want to do before I leave."

Yusaku nodded at him. "Take your time."

Conan left right after that, not bothering to say anything to his parents, and silently made his way back home ─ no, the detective agency because, he reminded himself, that was definitely _not_ his home. His little hands clenched tightly around the straps of his schoolbag, as he thought back about his parents' words. They had promised to take him back, and that alone caused his heart to unexpectedly ache.

Then, there was a sneeze. _This is the worst day ever, _he decided. Not only he felt emotionally drained for the news of his departure and witnessing Hirota Masami die in front of his eyes, but physically as well.

Ever since this morning, Conan had been fighting what it seemed to be the beginning of a terrible cold. Not that it wasn't expected, considering yesterday. He had, after all, spent the whole day running around in the snow.

His phone vibrated in his pocket so he pulled it out and answered, not bothering to look at the caller. "Hey," he sighed when he heard Shinichi's voice on the other side.

"If this is about the case that Ran-neechan must have told you about already, I'm not on the mood for a scolding," Conan sighed before the older boy could speak. "So, I'm hanging up right now."

"Wait, wait, I'm not going to. Honestly," Shinichi hurriedly said before the child could hung up him then paused. When he was met with silence instead of the usual _click _sound of the abruptly finished the call, the teen detective sighed. "Ran hasn't told me anything. I saw you on the newspaper."

Conan remembered that photo with a grimace. He was there, standing in front of the body with a crestfallen, yet blank look, as he still stared at his hands. Ran was also there, hugging him tightly from behind. To say that he wasn't happy with the reporter that thought it was a good idea to publish a photo of a visually shocked child was an understanding.

The same could be said for Ran, even more so. She had wanted to personally hunt and karate chop the reporter as soon as her eyes had fallen on the article, and she probably would have done it if Conan hadn't stopped her as soon as she began to stomp to the door.

"Then, what about it?" the boy snapped quietly, rubbing his nose that was itching because of his cold. "Why did you call?"

"I wanted to ask you something... Are you okay, Conan?"

Conan paused, not quite knowing how to answer that question. He had definitely seen better days, he realized, but it wasn't like he wanted him to know that. Before he could say anything, however, he suddenly sneezed, loudly, badly startling his brother.

"Did you catch a cold?" asked Shinichi, concerned.

"What do you think?" for a moment, Conan wondered if maybe he was being too rude to his brother. Then he shrugged it off, because he was having a _terrible _day, so yes, he had the right to be especially rude today.

"You better stay warm and rest quietly for today," Conan rolled his eyes, as he heard Shinichi slipping into mother hen mode. "And no weird cases, you hear me?"

"There isn't much that I can do about it," the boy shrugged. "Your corpse magnetism seems to have been rubbing off on me lately... Do you think is contagious?"

"Conan," his voice was firm. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, yeah," Conan sighed. "Why are you so worried anyway? It's just a cold."

"Yes, but _your _cold is never _just a cold,_" Shinichi replied easily. "You don't just fall ill, Conan, you _crash_. It happens every single time without fail."

"I'm really hanging up now."

"Wait!"

"What is it now?"

"Just remember, if you need me just give me a call. I _will _be there, I promise."

Had Shinichi been actually there, he would have noticed the weird look his brother gave him. "... I don't really have your number."

"Take a look," Shinichi grinned.

"Wha-?" Conan looked at the screen and was shocked to find an actual number on display. "Oh."

"Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

Conan stayed silent for a few seconds, then scoffed. "I don't need your help."

He finally hung up after that. For a moment, he silently stared at the alien number on the screen then proceeded to register it on his phone. By the time he had finished, he had already reached the stairs of the agency, and slowly started to climb them up.

His little hand effortlessly rested on the knob and turned it, and he couldn't help the nostalgic smile appearing on his face.

Conan could still remember the day after Shinichi's disappearance, and the first time he had walked alone from school to Ran's house. He had felt so embarrassed with himself, and equally frustrated, when he realized he was too short for the door knob. At the time, he had to stand on the tip of his feet and stretch himself a lot so he could open it.

It wasn't much of a struggle anymore, and Conan himself hadn't noticed the change until now. _It seems like I have grown a little bit, _with that, he opened the door, only to stumble forward because of a potent sneeze that left him disorientated.

"Conan-kun!" Ran was instantly in front of the child, a handkerchief on her hands.

She raised her hand to wipe his nose, and Conan blushed. "R-Ran-neechan, it's okay, I can..."

"Just stay still," with that he had been forced to let the girl fuss over him, rubbing the piece of cloth she held between her fingers against his sore nose.

_So much for 'growing up', _Conan grimaced.

"Shinichi was right, you really _are _sick," she scolded, lightly. "Honestly, you should be more careful."

"How did Kudo know about it?" it was only at that moment that the child realized the dark skinned stranger standing in the middle of the room, wearing a hat even if he was indoors. "Did you talk to him recently?"

_Kansai dialect, _the kid realized, unamused, yet happy when Ran let him alone to talk to this boy.

"He called a minute ago," she explained. For some reason, she seemed to be annoyed. "And he must have known about Conan-kun because he usually speaks with him through the phone."

The teen seemed pensive, for some reason. "I guess the rumor is true," he said. "You _are _Kudo's girl."

"G-Girl?!" Ran sputtered, her face bright red as a tomato.

"Well, yes, it _is _true_._"

"Conan-kun!"

The boy shrugged, not feeling up to grin sheepishly back at her as he usually did when he teased her and Shinichi, and all but collapsed on the sofa. He rested his head against the back and sighed a bit, feeling a headache beginning to crawl into his skull, while doing his best to ignore the two teenagers.

He sat up still when he felt Kogoro's worried glance on him. _I must look like hell, if even Occhan is concerned. _At some point, it seemed like he had convinced him, because the man had gotten back to his newspaper.

"By the way," the child asked, curiosity taking the best of him after a while. "Who are you?"

"Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself yet," he turned his hat over with a cocky smile. "My name is Hattori Heiji. I'm a high school detective, like Kudo."

Both Ran and Kogoro were shocked, while Conan just hummed in response, feeling uninterested all of sudden.

"Now that you mention it," the adult realized. "I've heard about you before. They said that there was this great detective in Kansai."

"Yeah, they always say that western Japan has Hattori and eastern Japan has Kudo," the high school detective replied. "I was always compared to him."

_On the other hand, I'm pretty sure Onii-chan has absolutely no idea of who this one is supposed to be..._

Conan felt a little bad as he listened to him. This boy was obsessed with having a competition with Shinichi, so he could see if he was better than him, yet the child's brother didn't even know this one existed.

_He either has been compared with him so much that he has developed an inferiority complex and wants to beat him to prove himself against others, _Conan guessed. _Or he is just a mystery-obsessed freak that genuinely wants to compete against a brilliant detective... I wonder who he reminds me of..._

His line of thought was interrupted when he sneezed, rather loudly, for the eleventh time this hour. He groaned, wiping his nose, that was beginning to ache.

_God, I hate this._

"Hey, kid," Hattori said. "If it's a cold you got, then I've got the perfect medicine."

Conan tried not to look too hopeful when the Osakan boy reached for a bottle inside his bag and poured some of its contents on a glass before offering it to the child. The little boy, in turn, thanked him and took the glass between his hands.

He gave the transparent liquid a long analytical look, and sniffed it. Ran was a bit amused by his actions, but not surprised. He had been raised around detectives, and she believed that the boy secretly hoped to become one himself. It would've been weird if he didn't, at least, give this strange medicine a curious look.

A weird grimace showed on his face, confusing her for a moment. "Hattori-san," he called. "This smells like alcohol."

Ran was stunned at the revelation. _Just... What?!_

"You have a good nose, boy," Heiji grinned, unaware of the fact that Ran was getting angrier as he spoke. "It's a Chinese alcohol called Paikaru. I figured I'd probably cause trouble until Kudo got here, so this is a gift for you."

"Why would you give alcohol to a kid? He's only seven!" Ran screamed, exasperated. "Besides, I already told you Shinichi is not here!"

A knock on the door brought them away from the discussion. There was a woman with a long, brown coat and sunglasses glaring at them, complaining to them for taking to long to notice she was there.

Kogoro was quick to welcome her inside, and Ran left the room to make some tea. Even if he was curious about what was the client's request, he decided to follow her in silence.

His little head poked from the doorway as he watched her move around. _I have to tell her, _his hands gripped the door frame tightly. _That I'm leaving for America tomorrow..._

_I need to thank her for everything she had done for me. I need to say goodbye properly. I..._

"Conan-kun?" he started when he noticed the girl blinking at him. "Is something wrong?"

Conan stared back at her and did not say a word. He knew it was time, that he needed to tell her she was leaving tomorrow, and that he didn't really know if he was seeing her again. But there was a knot on his throat.

He just... just couldn't _say it._

A cold hand resting on his forehead brought him back to reality. There was a frown and concern showed on her eyes.

"You're a little warm, and a bit too pale for my liking," she said softly and gently. "Why don't you go lie down for now?"

"I'm okay, really. I just have a bit of a cold," he tried wash her worries away with a timid smile, but Ran could see pain behind those blue orbs. If it was physical or emotional pain, however, she couldn't tell. "I wanted to ask you if you needed help with anything."

Ran gave the boy a hesitant look, until she shook her head with a smile. "I'm almost finished here," she told him, before she straightened up and continued working on the kitchen. "Now that I think about it, Shinichi told me you are a very skilled chef for your age."

"Not that it's hard to, when you live with someone like him," in spite of it all, Conan snorted. "Did you know? Last time I was sick, he tried to make me some congee and added too much salt. Somehow he believed you could cancel it out by adding _three_ big spoons full of _sugar."_

The girl burst out laughing at that. "That's _so_ like him," Conan agreed with that, full heartedly, as he giggled a little. "Say, do you want to help me make dinner tonight? I could use some help."

The boy nodded at her with a bright smile, before following Ran back to Kogoro's office, as she carried the tray with tea cups.

Then, he proceeded to listen to the client's request. She wanted the detective to make a background check on her son's soon-to-be wife.

"Anyway," she said, standing up. "I'll go into more detail after we get to my home and talk with my husband."

"Uh... We're going there now...?" the unfriendly look the woman gave him answered the question. "If that's the case, you should've just come here with your husband in the first place!"

"Like I said before, my husband is a diplomat. If people found out he came to a place like this-"

"-it'd be a scandal," Heiji completed, then said with a confident smile. "Alright, I'll join you guys."

"What?" Kogoro gasped.

"Instead of that old man there going alone, doesn't it look less suspicious if he brings his 'family'?" the young detective explained, then turned to Ran. "Why don't you come along?"

Ran frowned a bit. "Why me?"

"More the merrier, right? And there's a chance that Kudo might show himself."

There was a look in the girl's eyes that Conan could only interpret as sadness, and maybe longing. And, for a moment, he couldn't help but blame his brother for this. Ran certainly did _not _deserve this. Nobody did.

"He is not," the kid suddenly said, prompting Heiji to give him a surprised look. "Shinichi-niichan is most likely solving a very difficult case in far away from here."

"... I want to go," Ran then said, startling him. "If there _is _a chance that Shinichi, as slim as it might be, I want to be there..." her fists raised, in a battle stance. "... to teach him a lesson or two."

Conan sweatdropped, feeling a bit bad for his brother, even if he _did _deserve it a little. "Then, I want to go, too."

"But Conan-kun, your cold..."

"Ran-neechan, please!"

The boy didn't actually know what made her yield. Maybe it was the desperate look on his eyes, that pleaded, _begged_ to her to let him go. Perhaps she thought that he badly wanted to meet his brother, after months of not seeing him.

In reality, however, the child just didn't want to spend his last day in Beika resting in bed.

Whichever was the case, Conan ended up coming along, even if he had to ignore the deep tickle crawling in the back of his throat.

These people definitely had money, Conan noticed at first sight. The mansion was impressive, and even much bigger than his own house. They even had a butler to welcome inside, to whom the woman introduced Mouri as an old friend.

"Oh, Mother!" a young woman bowed at her, with a polite smile on her face. "I'm sorry to barge in."

Conan examined with his eyes the female in front of them, recognizing her as the one the client had asked Kogoro to check out, Katsuragi Yukiko. At first sight, she didn't look like a bad person. She didn't so much raise her voice at her, even if the client yelled at her for calling her 'mother'.

Her fiance was visually mad, however, yet didn't say a word.

Conan glanced at Yukiko for a moment, before turning back to the client. She was talking about something with her father-in-law. He looked at her face, and his eyes opened wide.

_Those two... actually look a bit alike, _he blinked, before shaking his head and following the group upstairs, while the client's father was sent to the tatami room to wait. _No way, that can't be._

Finally, the woman knocked on the door of her husband's office, but he didn't answer. Weirded out a little bit, she pulled out the keys and unlocked it, before making her way inside.

The opera music was the first thing Conan noticed, and honestly was hard not to. It was so loud that it pierced through his ears and made his headache ten times worse. Impressive as it was, the diplomat was sleeping through it, sitting on his desk behind a tower of books.

The woman even tried to shake him awake, but not avail. The man wouldn't move one inch.

"Dear...?" she then froze when the man just slipped off the chair.

Before falling into the ground with a loud thud.

His woman was on her knees right away, and about to shake him to get him to wake up, but two fingers pressing against the man's neck stopped her.

"It's no use," Heiji sighed. "He's already dead."

And Conan decided he had been right. Shinichi's death magnetism was _definitely _rubbing off on him.


	12. There is No Place Like Home

**File Twelve: There is No Place Like Home**

Conan's little pride would never let him admit it out loud, yet soon realized his brother had been right all along. As predicted, his cold had steadily gotten worse throughout the day. His nose was tickling and dripping, and a terrible headache was threatening to split his head open.

Not to mention that he felt _hot._

Despite of his illness, the kid had noticed a few interesting things: a small red dot at the edge of the victim's hair, the warmth of the body or the way his lips had gotten purple.

There was also a needle under the desk. When he had gone to take a closer look, he had bumped his head against Heiji, who had had noticed the same thing.

_Great, _he had sighed, in Ran's arms after the Osakan detective had literally thrown him at her chest. _Now my headache is worse._

Now the police were there, discussing the case. He almost facemalmed, hard, when Kogoro suggested a _suicide_, just because there were no external wounds.

Sometimes, Conan wondered how he had turned into a detective. Then, he would remember that he hadn't had much clients before he came along, and suddenly everything would make so much sense.

Pretending to point out random clues to secretly guide Kogoro to the truth had not been easy, especially when the detective didn't seem to realize he was being helped. _Still, _he smiled to himself. _I think I will end up missing that, as well._

Luckily, the Detective of the West pointed out the obvious and concluded that the diplomat had been poisoned.

There was a bigger problem now, though. The murder itself turned out to be a locked-room mystery, as there were only two keys. His wife had one, and the other one turned out to be in the victim's pocket.

"That can't be..." Kogoro sighed.

Hattori, on the other hand, gave the detective a sharp look. _I knew it. All those cases reported to be solved by this old man weren't solved by him at all,_ his eyes narrowed. _It's Kudo Shinichi. He's been solving all of them! This old man has secretly been contacting Kudo and getting help from him._

As the police had begun to confirm the alibi of the suspects, the child wandered around the crime scene. His eyes fell on the CD shelf and blinked. _Classical music, _he observed. _I could've sworn there was opera when we came in._

Then, it hit him. _What if... What if there is no locked-room murder? The crime might have been committed in front of our eyes without us realizing it!_

Realization wasn't the only thing to hit him so suddenly. A wave of dizziness forced the child to use the desk as an anchor so he wouldn't kneel over.

The inspector was holding something, but this vision was too blurry to see clearly. After some time, his eyes adjusted to the key holder, and realized that there was a small cavity on it, along with some cellophane tape.

_That's it! _he cried on his head. Sweat was soaking his shirt and the room was a few degrees hotter than before. _That's how she did it...!_

One second he was staggering towards Kogoro, hoping to make him realize what was actually going on, and the other he was in the floor, cheek resting on a carpet and eyes wide and confused, wondering how he had gotten down there so suddenly, before darkness clouded his vision.

"Conan-kun!" even Ran's words were fading into nothingness. He felt cold hands cradling his body and, with an abysmal effort, he managed to crack one eye open. Yet, there was no focus.

"Hey, brat!" that was definitely Kogoro's distinctive gruff voice. "What's wrong with him?"

The same cold hands went to his forehead and there was a sharp intake of air. He desperately tried to focus and speak ─ the culprit was making them all fell into her trap, but he knew the trick. His mouth opened, but words wouldn't come out. He only could gasp for the air he so desperately needed all of sudden.

"I've got it," he heard Heiji say. "The trick used and the criminal!"

Conan relaxed a bit in Ran's arms after the statement. _That guy is a famous detective, _he thought. _If he figured it out, it will be okay._

As she carried him out the room, however, he managed to glance at the boy. On his hand there was a fishing line. _No, he didn't, _his eyes opened for a second, before closing shut. _No, no, no. He got it all wrong. He is...!_

"You will be fine, Conan-kun," he heard Ran say, and then he realized he was tucked up in bed. "The doctor will be here soon."

Conan wanted to scream. This definitely was _not _the time for a doctor. There was a murderer out there and that detective that had easily bitten her bait. He couldn't...

"Conan-kun!"

His throat was on fire, burning intensely with each cough and it kept on for a few agonizing minutes. Once finished, he laid limply on the mattress, wheezing and completely exhausted.

"That must be the doctor! Hold on, I'll be right back!"

The boy silently watched her leave and frowned slightly.

When the girl returned, the doctor following behind her, she was horrified to realize that the bed was empty and the child nowhere to be seen.

* * *

_I knew it, _Conan frowned, while staring at the fishing line resting on the top of his palm.

Conan stumbled outside the kitchen, into the empty hallway. As he had expected, the killer seemed to have been hiding these across the house in order to incriminate somebody else.

There were surely more out there, yet Conan had no idea where he was supposed to start looking. The building was huge, and there was no telling he wouldn't end up losing his way in the process.

He figured the bathroom was a likely option, so he started going that way. His legs, however, felt heavier than expected, causing him to trip on his own feet. The boy caught himself before he could crack his skull, and leaned against the wall for support.

_This is bad, _Conan mentally cursed, shivering violently even in the blistering warmth of the room. _I don't think I can go on any longer._

Not when the world kept tilting in front of his eyes. With a shaky sigh, the kid secured the piece of evidence inside his pocket, his fingers grazing something metallic cold in the process.

His eyes fixed on his phone, and the child smirked a bit. _Yeah, as if. _His smile, however, faltered when his vision blurred for a second.

Swallowing his pride and embarrassment, he dialed that number and pressed the phone against his ear, even if he wanted to smack himself for actually considering it.

_I can't believe I..._

"Conan?" his brother's concerned voice filled his ears not even a second after he had pressed the call button. "Conan, are you okay?"

Conan wanted to answer, but he couldn't. All of sudden, the young boy felt faint and weak, and his surroundings went fuzzy once more. He opened his mouth to speak, but only gasps came out. It even hurt to breathe.

"Conan," his brother spoke again, slowlier and firmer this time, and the child focused on the sound of his voice. "Do you need any help?"

His hand clenched around the phone.

"... Yes," he managed to rasp out.

"Where are you?"

"T-Tsujimura household," Conan swayed and slumped against the wall. "Diplomat. He lives..."

"Don't worry, I know where that is. I'll be there in a few minutes."

_Is he... actually coming? _his eyes opened, wide, and tried to walk forward. _I need to tell Ran-neechan that... he..._

"So, in the meanwhile, stay on line. I want you-"

Suddenly, he couldn't hear Shinichi's voice anymore. Blinking confusedly, Conan looked at his empty hand, and then to the floor. The phone laid a few feet ahead, and for a moment he didn't know how it happened. Then, he figured out it might have slipped from his fingers and then accidentally kicked it with his foot as he stepped.

He went to gather it back, but at the next moment he was opening his eyes at the feeling of arms lifting him up from the ground. Looking up he saw _his_ face.

The one he hadn't seen in months after his sudden disappearance.

"Long time no see," the child managed a weak smile. "Detective-jerk."

Shinichi looked down at the kid he was holding and shook his head, chuckling lightly. "You're well aware that I can drop you at any given moment, aren't you?"

"Can, but won't. Ran-neechan would kill you," he replied easily, straightening himself so he could rest his chin on top of Shinichi's shoulder. He closed his eyes, still feeling a bit dizzy. "Tsujimura-san has been killed, and there's a detective from Osaka messing up, badly."

Shinichi blinked a bit when the child pulled out a fishing line and offered it to him. "When you said you needed help... you meant a case?" He accepted it, even if a bit confused, as he balanced Conan's weight on one arm.

"... What did you expect?"

"Honestly, I don't know," the teen sighed. "Now, will you tell me what your deduction is, child detective?"

And so, Conan began to tell him everything that had happened ever since he had found Hattori Heiji on Kogoro's office. By the time he finished his story, they had arrived at the room Conan had been in before. The high school detective honestly felt glad the child had been a least coherent enough to remember the way back, because they could've easily gotten lost inside.

"The killer is the wife," even if his voice sounded weak and fragile, there was such an amount of confidence that stunned Shinichi. "Only she could have done it."

To say that Shinichi was impressed was an understanding. It was hard to believe that a small fever-ridden elementary student had been able to solve a mystery that even adults and a famous teenage detective hadn't been able to understand.

"You have almost everything figured out," the older brother said with an amused smile. "Yet, there's something you have overlooked."

"Huh?"

"You still have yet to figure out how to take care of yourself."

"Oh, shut up."

Conan was gently set on top of the soft mattress, before the teen pulled the covers over him, and his glasses were removed and set on a nearby desk. Weighed down by fatigue, his eyelids began to drop as soon as his head sank on the pillow, threatening to close against his will in any given moment.

But he wouldn't give in so easily.

"Hey, Onii-chan," the kid slurred, sleepily, tired eyes flickering up to him.

"What is it?"

"Are... Are you okay?"

"... Eh...?" Shinichi certainly didn't expect _that. _

"You're sweating a lot and are deathly pale, too," his pierce look was somewhat clouded by the fever, but the sternness was still there. "And you were breathing quite heavily a few moments ago."

If it wasn't for the serious expression he had, Shinichi would have laughed. Of course Conan would worry about others, even when his own brain cells were so close to frying themselves.

"I'm okay," he tried to reassure him. "I was running on my way here. Just that."

Conan blinked slowly, a frown deeply carved into his face, letting his brother know that he wasn't entirely convinced, but probably far too exhausted to press him further.

"Don't worry about anything, Conan. I got this," said Shinichi affectionately, clearly noticing his struggle, while he pressed a hand on top of his overly-warm forehead. "You can rest now."

With that, the boy sighed tiredly and let go of the thread of consciousness he had so desperately been holding to, falling asleep long before his brother could take his hand away.

_Honestly, _Shinichi gazed at his younger brother for a moment, taking on his peaceful expression before chuckling, fondly, while his hand played with the little one's sweaty hair. _Sometimes he can be a handful, can't he?_

"Conan-kun? Where are you?"

Shinichi's gaze shot to the doorway, where he spotted his childhood friend running past, doctor in tow, only to return a few seconds later. She peeked inside and gasped, in shock.

"Shinichi?!"

The male teenager panicked, placing a finger on his lips. She did not understand at first, until she noticed the kid on bed, and quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands.

Surprisingly enough, the young boy did not even stirr.

While he doctor hurried up to check on the sick child, Ran in tow, worriedly looking at him from behind the man, Shinichi tried to silently slip away from the room. A hand on his arm stopped him for doing so, however.

"I need to talk with you for a second, Shinichi," Ran hissed at him, dangerously, and he only managed a weak nod.

When she dragged him outside, rather roughly so, Shinichi honestly feared for his life. She spun around, facing him and, instinctively, covered his head with his hands. But he didn't feel a world of pain, like he had expected, so he blinked his eyes at her, confusedly.

Then he saw her, and wished he had received a kick in the face instead.

"Where have you been?!" tears were collecting on his childhood friend's eyes. "I-I was so worried about you!"

He hesitated for a moment, gaze softening at her saddened posture.

"Don't cry, you silly," Shinichi smiled at her, tenderly.

"Don't tell me what to do, deduction freak! Not after disappearing so suddenly without telling anyone!" she shouted at him, angrily, prompting him to take a step back. "How irresponsible can you be to leave a seven year-old all on his own?!"

"I heard he's been on your care all this time, right? He's on good hands," the detective softly said. "Can I trust you to keep taking care of him?"

"What kind of question is that?" Ran scoffed, as she stubbornly wiped a tear away. "I'm not like you."

"Thank you."

She didn't bother to follow him as he passed by her, seeing that the child's health was far more important than this elusive idiot. Ran didn't expect him, however, to pause mid-way and whisper close to her ear.

"Wait for me, Ran," Ran looked at him with her wide and watery eyes. It was only then she noticed how badly he was sweating. "Soon... It'll all be over soon."

* * *

When Conan opened his eyes again, he was back at the bedroom he shared with Kogoro. For a moment he just stared, bleary-eyed at the ceiling as he let the memories fill his head, until he remembered.

_Did that bastard leave again...? Wait a second, _he looked at the window. _It's morning! _he stood up quickly, maybe a little too much because he stumbled and would have fell on his face if he hadn't recovered his footing in time. He paid no mind at the wet rag that had fallen into the floor in favour of taking another shaky step forward.

_Damn, how much did I sleep? My parents..!_

He opened the door to the room, only to find Ran standing there, like she was about to do the same thing. "Conan-kun!" she scolded, steering him away from the door. "Why does this happen every single time I get my eyes off you?"

The child said nothing in return, as the older girl ushered him back to bed.

"Relax, you're still sick," she sighed, wetting the rag she had picked up from the ground and wringing out the excess of water, when he tried to protest. "The doctor said you need to take it easy for the next few days. You have been under so much stress lately and that probably made your cold worse."

"Stress?" he asked confusedly.

She gave him a kind smile. "You have been through a lot, I'm sorry I didn't realize," she told him. "Hirota-san case was much too recent, and you have been too worried about your brother when he suddenly disappeared. Not to mention the fact that you're moving soon."

"... You knew?"

"Not until your parents came by yesterday to pick you up," at that, Conan looked away. "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

She was met with silence, and that caused her to sigh.

"I told them I would call them back when you feel better," she added, placing the rag on top of his forehead, before standing up. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

Conan just nodded, quietly, watching her leave.

It wasn't until two days later that be began to feel like himself again. He was currently sitting on the living room flipping through a newspaper as he let the news flood him. His eyes fixed in a particular case.

_The diplomat, Tsujimura, murdered by poison_

There wasn't anything that he didn't know as he had, after all, already solved it before. It was weird, however, that he could clearly read that it had been solved by Hattori Heiji, and there was no word from Shinichi, even if he usually liked the attention he received on these kind of things.

_Maybe he had to ask the police to keep his involvement in secret_.

There was a knock on the door causing Ran to go answer it, and Conan sighed heavily. He had thought that his parents had agreed to come pick him up tonight, but there were still a few hours until afternoon.

Not that it changed anything. He had already packed his stuff the other night.

"Conan-kun," called Ran. What she said afterwards, however, he didn't expect. "Your friends are here."

"Eh?"

She stepped aside, to let him see the three children standing at the door, grinning at him. For a moment, he hesitated. He didn't know how long he would have until her mother barged inside Ran's home ─ she was very unpredictable after all. The older girl, however, smiled gently with a nod.

And now there he was, walking down the street with his three friends. Ayumi was giggling, softly, as Mitsuhiko told Conan a funny story about Genta not finding his math book and getting sent over to the principal, only to find it later inside his lunchbox at lunchtime. He had been more worried about the squashed eel than the book itself.

Genta didn't find it so funny, however.

Conan chuckled a bit. The story was silly, and Mitsuhiko's storytelling abilities were, surprisingly, pretty disorganized. It was a struggle to understand.

However...

"We were so worried!" Ayumi said, after a while. "You were sick and missed three days of school."

"You're so lucky you got to miss school," Genta commented. "I guess I'll try to catch a cold, too."

"Genta-kun, there's no way you can catch a cold," Mitsuhiko held down a laugh. "Like they say, 'Stupid people can never catch-'"

A blow on his head shut the boy out, and Conan could not help but grimace a little. He had received plenty of those from Kogoro, mostly when he hung around crimes scenes, so he could emphasize a little bit.

"So," Conan spoke up, an eyebrow raised. "Mind telling me what in the world possessed you guys to decide to visit a library all of sudden?"

He could somewhat understand Mitsuhiko, but he couldn't picture either Ayumi or Genta reading anything besides manga.

"Because, while you were sick, we had a book report due and you're the only one who didn't turn it in. So we thought we'd all help you."

After that sentence, the kids kept laughing and chattering among themselves about the books they had chosen for that assignment, when they noticed the three of them were alone. Turning around, they confusedly stared at their friend as he just stood there, eyes hidden behind the light reflecting on his glasses and fists clenched a bit.

_There's no need to make that assignment. _

_Tomorrow... _

_I won't be there, with them, like usual, tomorrow. _

"Conan-kun, what's wrong?" Ayumi walked closer to him, visually worried. "Do you feel sick again?"

"Did something happen?" asked Mitsuhiko, eyebrows furrowed together. Then, he gasped. "Don't tell me... Did you encounter those dangerous men again?!"

"No, guys... I... There's something I need to tell you."

"What's it?" Genta pressed him, impatient. "Come on, you're scaring me!"

"I..."

_... am leaving for America tonight._

"... saw Shinichi-niichan the other day."

"What?!"

Conan forced a smile, and kept on walking, catching up with them. Pushing any other thoughts aside he started telling them the events from the other day, describing the case in so much detail that left his friends gaping in awe and asking for more.

"Eh?" Genta was confused. "He disappeared again?"

The boy with glasses just nodded in response.

"So, he really _is _running away from someone else..." Mitsuhiko pondered, frowning a bit as he thought.

"Still, isn't that terribly mean?" Ayumi commented. "To leave so suddenly without saying goodbye."

Conan had to pretend that last sentence didn't actually hurt as much as it did by shrugging, notchantly, and keeping his conversation going.

_I might end up doing that report in vain, but I it doesn't matter. I guess it can't hurt to spend time with them._

_Because, after today, I might not see these guys ever again. _

_This will be the last chance I'll get to be with them._

* * *

_That was dangerous..._

Certainly, Conan hadn't expected the trip to the library to turn into a full fledged scary movie. Somehow, they had ended up stumbling into a murder and drug smuggling case, running around the place to escape from the killer, who had turned out to be the librarian.

He certainly didn't want to go through this again. The others, however...

"That was so exciting!"

"I thought we were goners!"

"Stupid! Justice always wins in the end!"

The boy opened his mouth to speak, but then shrugged it off. Whether they liked it or not, his friends were still going to get into trouble. They were learning to take care of themselves when in trouble, and that should've been enough.

Night had fallen already. Conan sighed, then a bitter smile drew itself on his face.

_I guess I can finally say goodbye to Japan._

"Let's do this again, Conan-kun!" Ayumi smiled at him.

"Huh?"

"Our detective club!"

"When we all get together, we can solve any case!" Mitsuhiko chimed in.

"Alright, let's try our best next time, too!" Genta pumped his fist in the air, and the other two did the same.

_Next time... _his smile faltered, but was kept in place. _That's right... This might mean saying goodbye to them as well._

Now, he just needed to say it.

His mouth opened.

_Say it!_

And closed.

Without a word, the boy started running past them. "C-Conan-kun?" Ayumi called, hesitantly.

He paused, turned around, and shouted with the best smile he could manage. "See you!" and then, he left.

The children just stood there, watching their friend's back getting smaller and smaller as he went further away from them. His smile had been strained, even they could see it.

"I get the feeling he's going somewhere far away," Ayumi said.

The other two just nodded, suddenly overtaken by the same exact feeling.

* * *

When Conan slowly opened the door of the agency, as expected, he was met with the sight of his parents, sitting across Kogoro and Ran. Once they noticed him coming in, Ran jumped on her feet.

"Conan-kun!" she shouted. "Where have you been?! We were so worried about you!"

"I bet that brat probably found a dead body or something," Kogoro scoffed.

"Actually..." Conan trailed off.

"Eh? You did?"

While Mouri and his daughter were quite surprised about that, the Kudo couple just laughed, amused about the fact that the ability ─ or curse, as Conan would've put it ─ of stumbling across dead bodies seemed to run in the family. Then, Yukiko glanced at her watch.

"It is a bit late," she said, then turned to her husband. "Maybe it will be best if Co-chan spends the night with us at home and then leave tomorrow morning."

"About that..." they all looked at the little boy, who seemed to have a staring contest to the floor. "There's something I want to talk about with you, Mom, Dad."

Yukiko, Yusaku and Kogoro blinked owlishly at the overly serious child, yet Ran seemed to understand right away. She quickly went to her father and pulled him off the chair.

"I need to start preparing dinner," the girl said. "Dad, help me out."

"Wha-? Why me?"

"Just _come._"

"Yes, ma'am."

In a moment, the two were gone and the Kudo family was left alone. Conan's parents just looked at their son, patiently waiting for him to start. He took a deep breath, crossed the room and sat across the pair, hands neatly folded on his lap.

"I have tried," finally, the young boy spoke. "I asked you to give me one day to set my thoughts in order... And also, to properly say goodbye to everyone here, in Beika... I have tried, but the words never really came out."

He then looked up at their eyes. There was a sad, yet very tender, smile on his little face.

"Isn't it weird? I am supposed to return home with you, yet it feels like I am _leaving _instead," he paused. His parents did not say anything, so he continued. "That's when I realized how much I am going to miss walking school with Ran-neechan. To play soccer with Yoshida-san, Kojima and Tsuburaya after class. Even to hear Occhan's screaming like a fangirl whenever he sees Okino Yoko on the TV."

His phone vibrated on his pocket, letting him know that he had a text message. He didn't need to look to know who it was from.

"Then I saw Onii-chan and I realized that, even if it was brief, I might see him again if I stay in Japan," his eyes were vivid and there was so much determination in there that even Yusaku was a bit surprised. "I know it's dangerous and I certainly don't know what kind of trouble he got into this time around, but I want to find him. I want to bring him back home. And that is _here_."

Silence ensued thereafter, but Conan stubbornly held on their gazes. Yukiko was stunned, flabbergasted at the seriousness of those words, and a bit worried about the implications of staying behind. She opened her mouth to speak, when her husband beat her up to it.

"Then, I guess we should leave," Yukaku stood up, looking at Yukiko. "There's nothing for us to do here, right?"

"Eh? But-!" Yukiko argued.

"Have you seen his eyes?" he replied with a smile. "If he's anything like Shinichi, he won't change his mind. Even if we managed to drag him back to America, what's there to say he won't sneak back to Japan inside a random suitcase?"

Conan felt very offended at that. _I'm not that small..._

The mother nodded, feeling a bit unconvinced yet seeing the reason behind his words. With a sigh, she walked in front of her youngest and kneeled down.

"Okay, Co-chan, we'll let you stay in Japan," she rested her hands on his shoulders. "But remember, as soon as it becomes dangerous, I'm personally dragging you overseas with me and locking you in your room, alright?"

"And I'm calling child services if you do."

Yusaku shook his head, with a small laugh, and stood up to walk outside the room, followed by mother and son. Then, he knocked the door to the living room.

"Oh, Conan-kun, have you finished talking?" Ran said, as soon as she opened the door. "Sit down for a bit while I go get your things..."

"There's no need, Ran-chan," Yukiko stopped her, an apologetic smile on her face. "We were actually going to ask you if you could take care of Co-chan, again."

Ran blinked twice, speechless, staring at the mother for a full minute before shifting her gaze to Conan, who had a bit of an embarrassed smile on his face. The first one to react was her father.

"What?!" he shouted, hurrying to the door. "Again?!"

"Yes, it seems that he doesn't want to leave this place."

Confusion was soon replaced by happiness as a smile drew itself on Ran's features. She opened the door wider, welcoming him inside. "Of course he can," she said, before her father could protest. "Welcome back, Conan-kun."

Conan smiled back at her, as he let her guide him back inside. Kogoro wanted to argue, until Yusaku gave him a check with _a lot _of money, claiming that it was his money for expenses.

"Hey, Conan-kun," Ran said suddenly. "Are you still up to help me with dinner? I could _really _use a hand now."

The child nodded, happily, as he followed her into the kitchen.

_Now, I have no doubts about it._

_There is no place like home. _


	13. The Blind Spot in the Darkness

**File Thirteen: The Blind Spot in the Darkness**

"Will you answer this, Dad?"

Kudo Yusaku looked at his son in confusion. The morning after he had decided to stay in Beika, he had suddenly appeared on the doorstep of his old home, claiming that he wanted to set some things straight before they left the country.

"How did you know?"

"Know what, exactly?"

"Nobody just carries a ten million yen check around." Conan answered, an annoyed look on his face. "You knew I was going to stay."

Yukiko, who sat beside her husband gasped. "You knew?!" the man did not answer, and that agitated her. "Yusaku!"

The child sighed, tiredly, before crossing his arms behind his head. "And here I went through all this trouble to make a decision, and it turns out that it was completely pointless because you knew what was going to happen."

Yusaku smiled. "But if we didn't do that, you wouldn't have gone through that process of decision and personal growth," he told him, stunning the kid. "It wasn't pointless."

"Don't tell me you're doing your parenting duties right after kidnapping your own child," he scoffed, and he stood up. "Anyways, I have to go. Occhan was invited to some party about a game featuring him as a main character."

The annoyment on his voice was obvious, but understandable. The detective had only become so famous because Conan was the one giving out the hints. _Well, it's not like I want the attention, _he pondered as he bid his parents goodbye and left the house, shuddering about the thought of being him the one replacing Kogoro.

"Just one more thing," he stopped at the gate, and turned around. "This has been bothering me for awhile."

"What is it, Co-chan?"

"Is it because you all are famous that you changed my surname to Edogawa, or is it there another reason?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Onii-chan didn't get his surname changed."

"Fame was never a problem to Shinichi, as you might have noticed," his father replied, easily. "You never liked the spotlight, and we know that. That's why we decided to give you a more quiet, humble background."

Conan narrowed his eyes, and just skateboarded away without any other word. _Why is everyone so secretive? _his eyebrow twitched, in irritation. _An honest, straight answer wouldn't hurt every once in a while._

That annoyment, however, would turn into fear and then frustration throughout the day. He would finally met with Tequila, an organization member ─ he had uttered the names Vodka and Gin over the phone, so there was no doubt about it ─ but then see him die caught in a explosion.

The worst thing was that Kogoro currently had a terrible hangover, causing him to slump pathetically against the wall, not paying attention at his surroundings at all, which meant no famous detective to solve the case today.

"Geez, where did you go?" Ran held him by his hand after an entire day chasing him around. "Ah, you're injured."

Conan hadn't noticed the cut on his cheek until now, but he figured it might been from the explosion. Like the mother hen she was, Ran grabbed a napkin from her pocket and started to wipe the blood away. In the process, she dropped her father's and her number tokens. There were 96 and 100, and he clearly remembered Tequila's number being 98.

Then, these three people that had cut in before Ran at that time...

Before she could do anything the kid took of running in their direction, tokens in hand, just as saw a man walking up to the receptionist's desk, as she called his number to pick up his belongings.

"Hey, Mister," he did his best to replicate a very cheerful and loud child "Didn't she say that your number was 124?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Isn't that, like, _super _weird?" he opened his eyes wide. "I could've sworn you had cut in before Ran-neechan, and after Kogoro-ojisan."

The whole room stared at the two, shocked. The kid put on an innocent expression, as he held the numbers for the man to see.

"You should be careful not to lose your real number," his face twisted into a smirk, that did not match with his actual age, and watched as colour drained from the man's face. "Your suitcase could get mixed and swapped with another one. Maybe you should check if you have the correct one, just in case."

"N-No, it's okay," the man stuttered.

Noticing his anxiety, Megure asked him to check its contents, and he refused. His colleague started to struggle with him, trying to get him to obey so he would not end up as a suspect. The suitcase opened, accidentally, and money fell into the floor.

Takeshita, the true culprit, freaked out. After being told that they could check his suitcase and get some evidence, especially if they checked the lock with the key found at the crime scene, he confessed.

He tried to pressure the other man to tell him anything about the men he had done the deal, but there was little he could do with what level of persuasion a seven year-old could manage, without hinting in any way that he was trying to investigate them.

And, as always, the two men in black disappeared without a trace.

So, yes, he was annoyed and frustrated for an entire week.

Probably, was part of the reason he was annoyed when his brother asked that question, for the eleventh time this week.

"Are you sure you're okay, Conan?"

Conan sighed loudly against his phone one chilly day of February, as he climbed up the stairs from the detective agency.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm _fine,_" he told him.

"Last time you said that, I found you collapsed on the floor. Besides, Ran told me you had to be stuck in bed for three entire days, and you haven't called ever since."

The child pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Listen, my cold is completely gone by now," the boy tried to reason. "I'm sure Ran-neechan must have told you about that, at least."

There was a long pause, which caused the child to give the phone screen a curious look. For a moment, he had thought the call had been accidentally cut short, but it seemed it wasn't the case.

"Say, don't you think something is up with Ran lately?" softly, his brother asked.

"Eh? How so?"

"Even when I call her she doesn't talk that much," the teenager commented. "She doesn't complain so much about my absence anymore."

Just as the teen was saying that, the door of the agency opened before the child could reach it. "Huh? Conan-kun?" he basically heard Shinichi flinching at the sound of Ran's voice. "I'm going to go out for a while."

"Okay," he nodded at her. "See you tonight."

"See you," she waved her hand as she passed by him. "Say hello to Shinichi for me, okay?"

With that, she rushed down the stairs. The kid watched her go for a moment, dimly noticing Kogoro doing the same thing, with a look of suspicion on his face, before he heard his brother speak again.

"Tonight?" he asked, confusedly.

"Yeah, she has been doing that a lot," Conan informed him, walking inside and ignoring Kogoro as he made his way to his room. "She says she has karate practice."

There was a humming sound on the other side of the phone, which told Conan that his brother was probably in deep thought.

"Now that I think of it," the child pondered out loud. "Ran-neechan seems to be unusually happy lately. Probably she has been doing good on her club."

His brother took a sharp intake of air at that, confusing Conan about that reaction. "S-Say, Conan..." he stuttered a bit. "Do you think she...?"

"What?" the kid did not get it, blinking cluelessly.

"Do you think Ran is seeing someone?"

Conan gaped at that, shock written all over his face.

* * *

It wasn't every day that Conan was forced by Kogoro to sit inside his rental car and get taken somewhere else ─ he was the one usually forced _out. _He would had never gone anywhere with the man if it wasn't for Ran pressuring him to take the kid along, in fact.

Even so, Ran was worried, especially when she was told that Kogoro had been going to the hospital for a while now, and that he had some tests done.

"The doctor told me on the phone," the great detective was a bit tense. "...'Please bring your family members as well'."

At first, Conan didn't think it was anything serious ─ probably the man had just drank too much alcohol, he thought ─ but he started to doubt it when they arrived and saw the solemn and very serious face of the doctor, Yoshiteru Araide.

He looked at the papers on his hand and eventually he spoke.

"Mouri-san," both Ran and Kogoro nodded, feeling a bit anxious. "Another half a year more."

Those words prompted the three to gape and pale dramatically. Before he could say anything else, Kogoro raised from his chair and pounced on the unsuspecting doctor.

"You! How can you be so heartless?!" he screamed at him, tears collecting on his eyes. "All of sudden you tell me I've got half a year left. You should think more about your patients and take your time in telling them! Isn't that what doctors do?!"

"... For the next half a year I wanted you to stop drinking," the doctor blinked at him. "That's what I had in mind."

"... Eh...?"

As relief washed over them and Ran promised the doctor that she would make sure her father wasn't going to see another glass of alcohol in another half a year, at least, Conan could only let a dry laugh. _Way to give me palpitations, _he thought while he watched the doctor momentarily leave to take a call.

When Ran asked Yoshiteru's wife where the toilet was, and left to search for it, Conan worried. Knowing the girl, it was a matter of time until she lost her way inside the house, so he decided to slip out the room to go look for her.

The boy wandered through the halls of the traditional looking house until he finally found who he was looking for. He hadn't expected, however, seeing Ran kneeling down in front of some papers, picking them up, in front of a young man who seemed to be doing the same thing.

His blue eyes blinked, curiously, when their fingers lightly brushed together and Ran pulled away, a faint red blush covering her cheeks. They gazed at each other, eyes wide, exactly like two main characters on a cheesy soap that Ran would force him to watch at dinner time.

They were smiling at each other, and Conan couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Deciding to get closer, the child took a step forward.

When something barreled on his side. There was a crash and he felt himself falling on his butt, then heard steps hurrying closer. He groaned a bit, holding his head for a moment, before opening his eyes to see what had just hit him.

There was a young woman ─ by the clothes she was wearing he guessed it was the housemaid ─ sitting on the floor in the same position as him, probably after having fallen down. Between the two of them, there were several flowers, scattered over pieces of a broken vase and a pool of water.

"Ah!" once she noticed the mess she had done, and the child she had just bumped into, she panicked. "I'm so sorry! Are you hurt, little boy?"

Conan waved his hands in front of him, trying to get her to calm down. Just then, Ran reached the boy and kneeled down in front of him.

"Conan-kun!" she fussed over him. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm okay, don't worry!" he stood up, quickly, trying to reassure her. "See?"

The man that had been with Ran watched the kid flinch a little bit, then stand with his legs together while he forced a smile that somewhat convinced the girl. But it didn't fool him, so he kneeled down next to her and lifted his leg. Conan let out a shocked squeak, keeping himself from stumbling back by holding himself with the wall.

True to the man's suspictions, there was a cut on the side of his leg, blood dripping a bit. Ran gasped at the sight of it.

"Why didn't you say something?" she scolded the boy.

"It's just a scratch really," he tried to argue. "It's not a big deal."

"Honestly, you..."

The man smiled, a bit amused, at the interaction between the two. Just as he was about to stand up, he noticed the Yoshiteru stomping towards the housemaid and starting to yell at her, threatening to kick her out if this repeated again.

"Excuse me," Conan's small voice directed everyone's attention back to him, hands behind his back in a timid posture. "It wasn't her fault, Sensei. I was running around and accidentally bumped into her," he bowed slightly. "I'm so sorry!"

Blinking a bit to the little boy and then glancing at the maid, the doctor sighed. "You better clean that right away," he settled with saying to the woman, before walking away.

"Understood!" the maid said, right away, looking at the boy over her shoulder and mouthing a 'thank you' before disappearing into the hallway.

For a moment, the other two stared at the boy in silence, as he nodded at the maid. The man was the first one to chuckle. "You're a bit of a liar, aren't you?" he said, surprising him.

"Well... uh..." he smiled back at him, awkwardly.

Ran sighed loudly, while the doctor stood up. Then, he rested a hand on his little shoulder and steered him away. "Come on, young man," he told the boy. "We need to treat that cut."

"I don't need-" his words died down when he felt Ran glaring at him. "... Yes, sir."

With a pleased smile, the girl followed them.

* * *

The mystery man's name turned out to be Araide Tomoaki, a head graduate from Touto University and the son of the doctor that had seen Kogoro before. He currently sat at the opposite side of table since the doctor had invited Kogoro ─ and by addition the other two ─ to stay for dinner. Ran had accepted in a heartbeat, even if she had to give up karate for today.

Conan shifted in his chair, sitting cross legged as Kogoro jokingly asked Tomoaki to take Ran as a bride, which naturally prompted them to argue with him, flustered. The kid remained quiet throughout it all, his fingers playing with the bandages on his leg.

He frowned slightly. Tomoaki was a nice guy, without a doubt, and he figured he should've taken a liking to him from the beginning. But there was something... The way he talked with Ran, and the way she seemed to stare at him, then blush and look away... It didn't feel right.

Just in time, his phone vibrated. His eyebrow twitched when he read the text he had received from Shinichi.

"_If you notice something else about Ran, please tell me."_

Conan sighed and set his phone back, without giving it any further thought. He could tell from this far that jealousy was gnawing at his older brother. But that didn't give him the right to push his little brother to become a private detective to spy on his not-girlfriend.

"But the host is pretty slow," said Kogoro, as he looked at his wrist watch, clearly referring to Yoshiteru. "His working hour should be over by now."

"Bath," an old woman suddenly stepped on the room. "That man likes to take a bath before supper. Having a bath before anyone else and don't have the water dirty."

"Grandmother, putting such harsh words again!"

To say that old lady didn't like anybody on her family ─ except for apparently, Tomoaki, her only blood relative ─ was more than an understatement. She left right after scowling at the wife, without even waiting for dinner.

Just as Tomoaki was beginning to apologize for his grandmother's rude behaviour, darkness enveloped the room. Looking around at each other, confusedly, it didn't take long for them to realize there was a blackout, yet, as Conan pointed out while looking at the rest of the neighbourhood through the window, it seemed like they were the only house.

Hikaru, the clumsy housemaid from before, went to check out in the breakers, while the wife, still on the phone, stood outside the room. They all waited for a couple of minutes more than it should, but eventually the lights turned back on.

Both Kogoro and Conan stared into Ran's soul, and she blinked back, confusedly. Only then she realized she was holding onto Tomoaki's arm, instead of her father ─ who stood right in front of them, with a very unfriendly glare on his face.

The child said nothing, confusion pinching his face for a moment, until he snapped out of it. Instantly after, he pulled out his phone and typed:

"_Ran-neechan is squeezing someone else's arm._

_He's a doctor. A rather kind and nice one, too._

_I don't think you stand a chance, Onii-chan."_

It didn't take a second for the reply pop into Conan's screen, yet he didn't have the time to read it. Because the wife found Araide Yoshiteru dead on the bath.

Despite all Tomoaki's efforts to revive him, his father passed away. The cause of death had been electrocution, which seemed to happen because he had been shaving his face on the bathtub, for some reason.

The police, plus Kogoro, declared it as a mere accident. Conan stood on the bathroom, watching Takagi impersonating the victim with a sharp look on his eyes. Something didn't seem to fit...

So, he screamed. Loudly so.

And watched with a bored look as Takagi, startled by it, stumbled backwards and fell painfully on his rear end. Ran was instantly at his side, scolding him from making trouble, and he pointed out the obvious. Takagi wasn't supposed to fall that way.

He almost managed to get Megure to think of it as a murder, but Kogoro stepped up and did a demonstration of how it could've happened. To say that the boy was a bit impressed, even if irritated also, was an understatement.

Yet he couldn't just let it go. "But, Kogoro-ojisan..."

"What now?"

"You missed the part where Araide-sensei turns the switch of the shaver off. I really wanted to know how it happened!"

"Huh?"

It was then that they realized it was a chargeable one. There was simply no way it could've turned off on its own, and the victim couldn't have done it if he had been shocked.

"Then, why is it turned off?" Takagi asked. "When you found him, he wasn't moving already, right?"

"Yes..."

"Isn't because of the sound?" his eyes narrowed with a smirk, then his entire expression became more childlike and innocent, as the three adults turned to watch him. "Probably that person didn't want the sound to be heard."

"Huh?" Kogoro asked him, feeling a bit irritated. "Who to who?"

"How should I know?" he smiled, in a sickly sweet smile that actually showed how much he knew instead. "I'm just a child."

_And you're the detective here, stupid, _was left unsaid, but it was as if he had just said it alright to Kogoro. He scowled at him before turning around to continue working.

Right after that, they went to confirm everyone's alibi. The wife had been talking on the phone, Hikaru had gone to raise the breaker, the old lady claimed she was returning to her room at the Tomoaki had been in the kitchen with the other three the entire time. This last alibi had been confirmed by Ran, who had been squeezing his arm until the lights came back.

At some point, Tomoaki seemed to notice something about the way Hikaru held her arm and stood up. Similar to how he had acted with Conan, the man took Hikaru's arm and then rolled up her shirt. There was a burn mark.

"Excuse me," he said to Megure. "I would like to give her some treatment, so you wouldn't mind if I take her to the check up room, right?"

The inspector nodded and allowed him to go with the company of an officer. Just before he left, however, he stopped him. "Oh, and one more thing," Tomoaki looked back to the man from the doorway. "Today, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, for some reason only you had been away. Where were you at?"

"I'm the high school basketball team's replacement coach," Tomoaki explained. "When I was a student, I had to be a coach instead of someone who broke a bone, and he had asked me to coach the team until he can get out."

"A doctor being a basketball coach, huh?" Megure pondered a bit.

"If you want, ask Ran-san. The one that i'm talking about is the high school she goes to, Teitan High School," Ran's eyes snapped right at him at the mention of her name. "You know the coach of the basketball team is Tamochi-sensei, correct?

Conan could only stare at them both, in shock, while Ran nodded her head. _Could the reason Ran-neechan has gone to karate practice every day actually be...?_

As Tomoaki told his grandmother ─ who had stepped in something weird on the blackout and injured her feet ─ to come along, and Ran offered to help him, Conan picked his phone once more.

Shinichi's text was in the screen.

"_What do you mean with that, Conan?"_

There wasn't much in it, yet Conan somehow could tell. In his mind, he could see the sadness on his brother's eyes as he wrote that message. The smile on his face he would have forced to pretend everything was alright, when clearly it wasn't.

The child put the phone back. There wasn't anything he could say.

* * *

Conan knew for a fact that the culprit was the wife. But the police was still suspecting Hikaru, because her alibi couldn't be confirmed ─ it had taken her far too long to raise the breaker. He had found out why recently, when he discovered a broken vase on hidden on her cupboard.

They needed a little push in the right direction, but how?

An idea popped on his mind when he spotted Kogoro and Megure, standing on the yard with an umbrella protecting them from the pouring rain. Taking a deep breath, the boy took off running.

Only to collide with Kogoro. Hissing softly because of the pain his fall had caused, the little boy stood up quickly. Before he could apologize, Kogoro sat up and glared at him.

As the child had planned, the man had fallen into a puddle. "Hey!" now the great detective was soaked to the bone. "What's the idea?!"

"I wasn't watching where I was going?" he offered with a shrug.

"You little brat...!"

"Now, now," Megure let out an awkward laugh, restraining Kogoro so he wouldn't land a hit on the kid. "Be more careful next time, okay, Conan-kun?"

"Okay!" the child nodded with a bright smile, which annoyed the adult even more.

Kogoro scoffed at him, breaking free of Megure's grasp and stomping inside the house. The inspector merely looked at the angry detective, and the child that seemed to follow him without a clear reason and sighed, loudly. _Kids these days..._

"Maybe you should take a bath or something..."

Mouri could feel annoyment cursing through his veins at the sound of the seven year-old irritatingly innocent voice, who trailed behind him like a puppy, but still made sure to avoid stepping on the trail of water that Kogoro was leaving behind.

"Tell me something I don't know, squirt," the man told him, not even bothering to look at him. "Hey, make yourself useful and tell Yoko-san I'm going to borrow her bath."

"Understood!" he nodded, cutely, before disappearing around the corner.

It didn't take two seconds before his head popped up on Kogoro's view again.

"Now what?" he sighed loudly.

"I think Hikaru-san is the culprit," Conan stated.

Kogoro raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I found something weird in Hikaru-san's cupboard," the child said, then quickly continued before the man could ask him what he had been doing there in the first place. "There was a broken vase. That's a pretty suspicious thing to keep, right?"

"Idiot, she most likely broke it by accident and decided to hide it there so they wouldn't find out."

Conan seemed to ponder about it for a moment, when his eyes went wide. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Now that I think of it, Araide-sensei threatened to kick her out if she messed up again, so it makes sense she would want to hide it!"

Kogoro stopped waking there, freezing on the spot as he watched the kid, not caring if there was a pool of water forming beneath his feet. His gaze shifted to the phone sitting on the table at the end of the hall and gasped in realization.

Blinking twice, the child waited for the man to talk.

"Conan," there was a very serious expression on Kogoro's face. "Tell everyone I'm going to make my deduction as soon as I finish my bath. And tell Takagi and Inspector Megure to meet me here in five minutes."

The child nodded and hurriedly went around the corner.

Kogoro didn't notice the wide smirk that had appeared on Conan's face, though.

* * *

A/N:

Gamelover41592: Actually, Conan learned Vodka and Gin's codenames at the train in chapter 8 of this fic. I had to go with the manga version for this part because the anime messed up and completely changed it. But, yeah, those men were actually them.


	14. My Name is Edogawa Conan

**File Fourteen: My Name is Edogawa Conan**

The case had been resolved when the wife admitted the crime. Now, Conan hadn't actually been there when Kogoro cornered her with that trap, but he knew for a fact that they had convinced her to lie about how she had actually killed her husband, if the looks she sent to Hikaru were something to go by.

And he understood why she had done it. If Hikaru learned that, even if by complete accident, she had been the one to take his life away, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Sorry for keeping you so long."

Conan glared at Kogoro when he had accidentally pushed him a bit, in an attempt to take a better view of what it looked like a confession scene between the young doctor and the high school girl. Tomoaki was scratching the back of his head, awkwardly, while Ran kept her hands clenched together in front of her.

"I want you to tell your father something for me," Tomoaki said to her, eyes focusing on the floor.

Kogoro blinked confusedly, before turning to the boy, and that alone puzzled him even more. There was shock written all over his little face, and the detective couldn't really understand why he had reacted like that.

Suddenly, all those romantic movies Ran had forced on him popped on his young mind. A confession like this... Usually, they lead to another scene at the end of the film.

The bride and the groom, kissing under the sunset as their family clapped. Laughter. Happiness. Tears of joy... _Marriage?!_

When it hit him Conan let out a shocked gasp, and Kogoro flinched at that. The two heads turned their way and the males that had been spying on them could only smile, awkwardly.

Until she began to yell, angrily, at them for stalking her. It had taken the three of them ─ including Tomoaki ─ about twenty minutes to get the girl to somewhat calm down, enough for them to explain themselves.

"I'm sorry, Ran-neechan," Conan apologized, his head down. "I told Kogoro-ojisan this wasn't a good idea, but he wouldn't listen."

"E-Eh? Me?" Kogoro winced under his daughter glare, before turning to the kid. "You brat! Tell them it isn't true."

Conan would've chuckled at the sight of his overly panicked look, but kept it in, attempting to keep himself in character. Ran's raisen eyebrow told him, however, that Ran wasn't quite buying it.

But he was saved, when Tomoaki frowned and stepped ahead. "Say, Conan-kun," he kneeled in front of him. "Did you fall again?"

Only then did Ran notice that Conan's legs and knees where all scrapped. Seeing the little boy shrug, notchantly, and her father scorning at him for some reason, she smiled. But it wasn't a nice and sweet kind of smile she would often give people, but a rather sinister, terrifying one.

"Dad, did you give Conan-kun some trouble again?"

"N-No! The brat fell on his own, I swear!"

When he realized her anger was currently directed at Kogoro, exclusively, Conan could've sighed in relief. It wasn't the case, because he was lead to the check up room.

The child was unusually quiet as he was told to sit down while the doctor collected his stuff. He returned right away, with a kind smile on his face, as he set his things beside him.

"This will hurt a bit," and it did. The doctor wasn't surprised to see the boy hissing a bit, as he rubbed the alcohol on the scratches. "You're quite a mischievous young man, aren't you?"

Throughout it all, the kid said nothing and watched silently as the older man treated his cuts. Tomoaki didn't say anything of it, brushing his attitude as shyness, or probably that he was scared of Ran reprimanding him.

"You should be more careful," the doctor continued. "You don't want to worry Ran-san, do you?"

Conan looked at him at that, with a frown, then looked away, like he was about to say something to him, but decided not to.

"What is it?" Tomoaki asked the child. "You can ask me whatever you want."

The kid seemed to hesitate, but gazed into his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth.

"Araide-sensei, what are your intentions with Ran-neechan?"

Tomoaki certainly didn't expect that question to be asked. "Huh?"

He didn't expect the kid to scoff at him, either. "You were going to ask that, right?" he accused him, eyes narrowing. "You were going to ask Kogoro-ojisan for Ran-neechan's hand in marriage, weren't you?."

When Tomoaki paused bandaging his leg, Conan honestly believed he had hit the mark. That was it, at least when the young doctor began to laugh under his hand, as if he was attempting to stop himself.

_Hey, hey, _Conan's eyebrow began twitching. _What's so funny?_

"You got it all wrong," finally he explained, with an amused smile. "I definitely wasn't going to ask her hand in marriage."

"Then you..."

"I actually wanted Ran-san to tell her father I was sorry because I had been rude with him before," he explained, with such a patience that one would only have with a child. "And that I would be happy to help him if he needs anything."

Conan just stared at the doctor, blankly, even when the door opened and Ran entered the room, after seemingly having ended her discussion ─ scolding ─ with her father. She sat beside Conan, who was still staring, and glanced at his injuries.

"Is everything okay?" Ran asked facing Tomoaki.

"Yes, it's just a couple of scratches," the doctor informed her as he finished bandaging his legs.

The kid was glad the doctor hadn't said anything about marriage, or his own theories about marriage proposal. Even so, he noticed Ran shifting uncomfortably on her seat.

"I'm sorry to say this at a time like this but... if it's okay with you..." both males looked at her, confused. "Could I borrow that handmade sweater for a while?"

Even if he now understood why had she acted like that, he couldn't understand the reason. At least, until Tomoaki smiled, took off his sweater and gave it to her before going to get a jacket to put over his white shirt.

Conan glanced at Ran, who in turn was looking over the patterns on the sweater, and chuckled lightly, before taking his phone out and typing:

_"What I meant is that you need to talk to Ran-neechan, not your little brother._

_I'm not your therapist, stupid."_

Ran received a call not long thereafter and they talked for hours on end.

A week after that, she left a beautiful hand-knitted blue sweater at his house, right on top of the bed.

It disappeared a few days later without a trace and Conan wasn't a bit surprised about it. Mostly because he had been the one who texted him about the gift.

Too bad his brother had been too sneaky to be caught in the act.

Nearly a month passed uneventfully, a case then and there, but nothing related with the mysterious organization, and April was nearing already, bringing forward another school year in a few days.

Conan sighed, letting his gaze fall into his feet as kicked a pebble, watching it roll on the path he was currently walking, before doing it once more. With a slight flinch, the kid remembered how angry Ran had been the other day. Her voice while she talked with his brother was so loud that Conan was sure that Azusa from Poirot had heard it as well.

He wouldn't have been surprised if Hattori Heiji had also heard from all the way to Osaka.

"_You can't be serious, Shinichi! You can't just drop school!"_

That had taken him by surprise, yet at the same time, he figured he should have expected such an outcome. At the time, he had just shook his head and burrowed his face back to a book, preferring to pretend he hadn't heard that in the first place.

Which failed terribly, because it wouldn't leave his head just like that.

He had kept in contact with Shinichi, calling each other once in a while, but had yet to say anything about the situation he was in. Conan figured that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

_Speaking of which, his birthday is in a little more than month, _he noted. _I bet he's going to forget about it, again, this year._

He had no clue, however, what should he get for him. Hell, he didn't even know if he should get him something on the first place, since he didn't even know where he was or if he was planning to visit anytime soon.

The boy stopped for a moment in front of a bookshop, and wondered if his brother would actually enjoy Detective Samonji.

_It's still too early, _he was about to leave, when a sign caught his attention.

_With the purchase of any mystery book you can participate in a contest for this year's Sherlock Holmes Freak's Tour!_

_... Maybe I should just get this over with..._

* * *

Kogoro leaned against his seat, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Ah, _A Study in Scarlet... _That's the historic novel in which Sherlock Holmes makes his first appearance!"

"I personally love _The Red-Headed League._"

"Me! Me! Me!" the famous detective jumped suddenly when the usually quiet child raised his hand, wearing a grin big enough to split his little face. "Mine's _The Sign of Four._"

Unlike Kogoro, the rest of the people who were in the van with them were greatly pleased with his statement.

"Oh! That work is world-renowned!"

"You can read kanji?"

Even though he shook his head, his happy expression did not waver. "I read all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works in English."

"So you read them in their original language?"

"That's impressive, little boy!"

His unusual, yet in common between the passengers, interest for mystery novels, and his overall high intelligence and cuteness, completely enchanted the group. Kogoro watched, with an eyebrow raised, as he talked and laughed with a bunch of adults that simply seemed to love him.

"Which story is your favourite?" his expression fell when he realized he had been asked a question.

"H-Hmmm... Let's see... How about _And Then They Wanted None...?_"

_It's And Then There Were None, and certainly not a work from Arthur Conan Doyle, _Conan grimaced, feeling embarrassed at the fact that he was with him. _Can't he even get the name right?_

Things went sullen after that, and Kogoro couldn't help but try to shrink away from sight, wishing to simply disappear from that stupid tour. Ran sweatdropped, laughing awkwardly at the situation.

Soon they arrived at the inn, and a man disguised in detective clothes welcomed them inside, before introducing himself as Kanaya. There were another group of people already, waiting for them inside.

To say that Kogoro wasn't feeling as happy as his little charge was an understanding. Specially when the entire group was whispering about him, telling each other about his absolutely embarrassing display of ignorance about Doyle's work.

"This man is not just anyone," Kanaya tried to calm them down. "He's a famous detective whose work is on par with Holmes'."

"Mouri Kogoro-san, right? I know who he is," the one with glasses, Toganou Kento, said, unimpressed. "You're very good, but you're nothing in comparison to Sherlock Holmes."

"I agree," his girlfriend, Ooki Ayako, nodded. "If you were to actually match wits with him, he'd hang you out to dry."

"... Who do these guys think they are...?!" Kogoro growled, irritated.

"Technically, they are right," Conan replied, without giving much thought.

Which probed to be a very unwise move when he received a blow in the middle of his head, causing Ran to worry and begin to fuss over him.

"Conan-kun!"

"... Conan?!"

The next thing Ran knew was that she was pushed away from her spot, and that Conan was suddenly surrounded by a group of Holmes' fanatics with big smiles on his face.

"Your name is Conan?"

"Is that true?"

Seemingly not liking that sudden attention, the child blushed a bit, but gave out a insecure nod. "My brother was a fan of Holmes even before I was born, so..."

Sometimes, he blamed Shinichi for choosing such a weird and unusual name for him, and wished he had gotten another, simpler one. While he loved those mystery novels, he believed that the the attention and the weird glances he received every time his name was said was not worth it.

Yet, another more logical part of his mind told him that it was not right to blame him. Shinichi had been only ten at the time, and it was his parents who should've known better than to let him name his newborn brother.

_But I am younger than he was back then, _he sighed, mentally. _Even I know not to screw someone's life with a name._

"It's a wonderful name!" they all shouted.

Conan blinked a bit then let his shoulders drop. Of course these people would love a name like that. In spite himself, however, he found himself smiling a bit at their appreciation.

Ran also smiled, genuinely relieved to see the mature boy acting like the child he was supposed to be. She was glad Conan had dragged them to that place, even if her father wasn't.

Yet, at the sight of that innocent, childish smile she couldn't help but be reminded of someone else. Someone she longed to see again.

"He's just like him," she commented more to herself than to anyone else.

"Who?" her father was confused.

"You know, _him_," she stressed out. "The sly, show-off deductive maniac, Holmes freak who sings off-"

"Although he sings off-key he's a great soccer player..." Conan looked away from the group at the sound of a new voice that was speaking in kansai dialect. "... and he beat me in the last case and ran off somewhere. You mean Kudo Shinichi, right?"

Honestly, Conan couldn't decide whether he felt amazed at the amount of information he had about his brother or utterly creeped out because he knew _that_ much in the first place.

"Hattori-kun!" Ran was stunned. "Are you a Holmes fan too?"

"No, no," he waved his hand. "I figured that if I came to this tour, I'd be able to run into Kudo."

_Congratulations, Onii-chan, you have your first fanboy, _the child thought sarcastically. _And he looks like the stalker type._

"Besides, I prefer Ellery Queen to Conan Doyle-" several angry glares made the teen freeze for a moment. "-but I guess Doyle is still the best."

Only when the glares vanished, replaced by pleased smiles, did the teenager breathe again. Conan wanted to laugh at him, but Kanaya spoke up, and began to present their time table.

"After dinner, as it has become customary every year, everyone will take a challenging deductive reasoning quiz," the maid came forward, with a thick book that picked Conan's interest. "And if you get a perfect score on this quiz, believe or not, I will award this first edition of the book _A Study in Scarlet, _which introduced Sherlock Holmes into this world."

It wouldn't be for free, however. He explained that they were only allowed to participate in the next event if they got at least nine hundred and ninety correct questions out of a one-thousand Sherlock Holmes' quiz.

By morning, the child could say that he had aced the quiz. He believed he had gotten almost all questions right ─ except, probably, for one concerning the Dancing Men that was downright impossible ─ and excitedly waited for the owner of the pension to grade it.

He never showed up, however. Yet, he waited alongside a few others that actually decided to stay.

It was later than three in the morning when he finally appeared, sitting in a car and driving off a cliff. Heiji and Conan were the first ones to react, jumping off the window and running towards him, but the car sped up.

A blanket covering the dashboard. A weird sound that definitely wasn't the engine. Those were the only things the young boy noticed before the car fell, exploding into pieces when it hit the ground.

Once they were all together, Kogoro claimed it was a suicide. Thankfully, however, they were surrounded by Holmes' fans, so everyone else agreed that it had been a murder.

_What was that, anyway? That weird noise, _Conan dropped onto his knees and started inspecting the tire marks. _It could be the air conditioning, but it's completely dry. Then, what-?_

He was brought out from his thoughts when he felt pain on his head, and soon realized he had bumped his head against Heiji's. He was about to loudly complain about that brat getting in the way, when he realized.

That had actually happened before.

Conan felt a bit uncomfortable under the teenage detective's gaze, but said nothing. He had absolutely no idea of what was going through his mind.

Not long thereafter, Ayako claimed to know the true culprit with an arrogant smile on her face, only to say she had been mistaken a few minutes later.

She would stop breathing not long thereafter, burnt to death inside a car.

* * *

There was a blackout and Fujisawa was attacked with an ice pick, and would have gotten killed if Heiji hadn't pushed him away from harm as fast as he did. When the lights turned back on, they noticed the window had been smashed.

Kogoro and everyone else, except for the detective of the west and Conan, believed the owner wasn't actually dead and was killing people off.

"Damn it, why did the owner come after me?" Fujisawa groaned, as he cradled his injured arm. "And to think I helped him publish his book."

"Book?" Kogoro was confused.

"It's a Sherlock Holmes book he published at his own expense. The title was _The Scorn of Irene Adler._"

The kid could've sworn he saw a very intense, angry, look pass by Togano's face before it went away, almost as if it hadn't been there in the first place.

Conan pondered about that single, apparently trivial, piece of information while Kogoro stepped closer to the broken window, seemingly ready to chase whatever criminal hanging around outside, when Heiji stopped him.

"Take a good look at the chair," he pointed out. "It's oddly positioned because it's been squeezed into a small space. This is proof that the culprit hurriedly pushed it in after breaking the window."

"Oh, he's right!" Conan exclaimed, eyes big and curious, as he kneeled closer to the chair. "There are glass fragments embedded in it! The culprit must have used this chair."

Conan failed to notice, however, the way the teenage detective's eyes narrowed, fixed on his small form. He then turned back to Kogoro, and his mind focused again on the case.

As it turned out, the blackout had been planned beforehand, as the plug had been tampered with so it would cause a short circuit when plugged in. Mouri was quick to accuse Kawatsu, since he was the only one without an alibi.

"You're right about that much," Heiji nodded, after the older detective had finished talking. "But something doesn't seem to fit. Right, kid?"

Conan nodded, absentmindedly.

"Unlike the first and second cases, when Fujisawa-san was attacked, the culprit was careless and left clues," his hand went to his chin as he thought out loud. "It could be that he had not originally planned for the third case."

It was only at that moment that he realized that everyone was staring into his soul, confused. He tried to laugh it off, awkwardly, while Ran came closer and apologized.

"He likes to play detective," she said.

_That's not just playing detective, that's full-fledged deductive reasoning, _Heiji's suspicions were brought out to light once more, not letting his eyes stray away from the mysterious child. _His body and voice are completely different, but it's as if he was Kudo, _his eyes opened, widely. _Last time I saw Kudo, the kid wasn't around... Could he...?_

A chill ran down Conan's back suddenly, leaving him shivering. Slowly, he turned around to see the Detective of the West staring at him, with such an analytical gaze that left the child confused and lost. _What's wrong with that guy? _he wondered, raising an eyebrow at him and turning around, doing his best to ignore the teen.

Heiji only looked away from him when he started to explain rigor mortis to the group, and the child sighed, relieved, when he felt the detective's attention momentarily drifting away from him.

Yet the irritation he felt about the fact that this case was going nowhere ─ Kogoro had just accused Toda, claiming that she had _hypnotized _the victim into committing suicide ─ was surpassing his ephemeral relief. So, he decided to take a risk.

And walked closer to Heiji.

"Hey, hey," his sugar coated voice ran through the teen's ears. "What happens to the body's rigor mortis if the temperature is raised? If that's the case, it's easy to solve, right?"

The boy looked at the child for a moment, before shrugging. "I'm stupid, so I have no idea what you're talking about."

His smile faltered, and his eyebrow twitched in irritation. "You _do _know," knowing that his innocent child act would get him nowhere with that guy, he accused him. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, a very famous detective?"

Well, Kogoro was famous too yet he didn't seem to realize the trick, but he guessed it didn't count...

"So, do _you _know, kid?" Heiji smirked at him.

Conan glared at him for a moment, before sighing heavily and starting to walk away, prompting Hattori to give him a curious look.

"Whatever, I'm going to the toilet."

"Then I'm going, too."

"Umm, never heard of privacy?"

"We don't know who the killer is, so you never know when the he is going to strike next, do you?"

"You do."

"And it seems like you do as well, right?"

Conan gave Heiji a very annoyed look. "I'm going to tell Ran-neechan that you're bothering me," he said, with a plain voice.

"And why should I be concerned?"

"She knows karate."

A wide-eyed Heiji instantly let go, full aware of the implications of that simple fact, causing the kid to stuck his tongue at him, in a very childish way, and taking off running.

Once he made sure that the hallways were Heiji-free, he started looking for _that _door.

The owner's room wasn't hard to find. It wasn't locked, either, since they had forced it open a few hours ago to check for clues they didn't find. Yet, he did manage to find the decisive piece of evidence.

He smirked a bit, as he took the papers on his hands and went back to the room. By that time Heiji had already began his deduction, and judging the horror on Togano's face, he had figured out the killer correctly.

"If that's the case, then show me your proof," the man said, with a smirk on his face. "If you are so sure, you must have some kind of proof, right?"

"Ah-le-le? This is weird," the eyes fell on Conan, who was standing next to Heiji, looking at the papers on his hands, an innocent expression on his features. "This is yours, right, Mister? You forgot to put your name on it."

The man flinched. "No, it's not."

"How can be you sure about that?" the child then smiled sweetly. "Why don't you check it out?"

"But, little boy, a nameless quiz could belong to anyone-"

"Question one: is Holmes right-handed or left handed?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just checking your answers. That way we can know if it's yours, right?" the boy replied, a sugary tone on his voice. "Then, question two: what is Dr. Watson's wife's name?"

"That isn't necessary, kid. The owner won't grade them so..."

"Just answer," Heiji's glare shut the suspect up, instantly.

"Well... How about..." the young boy hummed to himself as he went through the pages. "Ah! This one will do. Question two hundred and forty-one: what was the content of the message Holmes wrote using the Dancing Men?"

"Ah, that question. I remember it well," cold sweat was collecting on his brow. "The answer was: 'Come here at once!'"

The way the child smiled, devilishly, made the man falter. He didn't realize where he had messed up, until he heard the others whispering with each other. There was no such a question at all.

"Sorry, I read it wrong, but isn't it strange you would forget that question in particular? It was really hard!" the child continued. "And here I was worried that you couldn't answer a single question, considering you are a big fan of Holmes-san, but it turns out you didn't even look at it. That's a relief!"

"W-Wait..."

"But to think that you knew it would be pointless to do the quiz before anyone else... You are amazing, Togano-san! Just like Holmes-san!"

Realizing his error, the suspect went as white as the papers on Conan's hand. The Detective of the West stepped up, sharp eyes looking at him as he finished his deduction.

Togano then confessed killing the owner and trying to murder Fujisawa, all because he despised the book they wrote together, _The Scorn of Irene Adler. _He said that Irene would _never _mock Sherlock.

_I don't think I will ever understand what could cause a human kill another, _Conan thought, contemplating the killer, who had fallen into his knees, crying his eyes off. _Yet, killing someone because of a badly written fanfiction? _

Technically, it wasn't fanfiction, his mind supplied, but he shrugged it off, and looked up at Heiji, who had just turned around. His sharp eyes met with his and it made the child wonder what was all of that about.

At least, until Hattori spoke.

"You're Kudo, right?"

Conan froze for a moment, eyes wide as he wondered. _How did he figure it out? _he thought about anything that could've given his real identity away, but he couldn't find anything. _How did he figure out that my last name is not Edogawa?!_

Luckily, everyone's attention was focused on the killer.

"W-What are you talking about?" he panicked a bit because, even if his parents wouldn't tell him, there must be another important reason behind having his name changed, more than the unwanted fame. "My name is Edogawa Conan. _Edogawa._"

Heiji kneeled in front of him, so he could stare into his eyes at his level.

"Stop playing games!" he accused, pressing his index finger against his tiny chest. "Your body is small and your voice is different, but your way of reasoning and expressing yourself are unmistakably that of Kudo Shinichi!"

_... Excuse me?_

Blinking twice, Conan's shoulders dropped and all the tension he had been feeling before disappeared with that single sentence. Heiji noticed the change, which only puzzled him, and stared into those eyes that used to be scared and surprised.

The child just gave him a plain, bored look, as if he wondered whether the Detective of the West was serious or merely joking around.

"Seriously, what are you even talking about?" the cute little kid act was completely gone at this point. "In case you didn't notice, I _am _a kid."

"Oh, I see," he said, unconvinced. Then stood up, turning to Ran with a big smile on his face. "Hey, listen. I've got a real interesting story. You know what?"

Conan was startled when he felt hands sliding under his armpits and his feet leaving the ground. Suddenly was face to face to a blinking Ran.

_Hey, hey, he can't be serious, can he?_

"You said you didn't know where Kudo is, right?" that sentence was enough for Conan to realize that, yes, he _was_ serious about this. "I bet you're dying to know where he is. Do you want to know?"

"Sure, I'm curious, but..." she glanced at the sweatdropping child for a moment, before turning back to the detective. "What does Conan-kun have to do with it?"

Heiji smirked and Conan calmly waited for it.

"Because _that _Kudo Shinichi..." he raised him higher and closer to the clueless girl, his smile widening, if possible. "... is right here!"

...

...

...

The silence was deafening.

Heiji blinked. He had expected the girl to be shocked, but this was different. So much different than any reaction he had seen after telling someone a shocking and awesome deduction. Ran's eyebrows were brought together and her lips were twitching upwards, an awkward smile adorning her features.

She had even taken a step back.

"Don't joke like that, Hattori-kun," Ran let out a strangled laugh.

"I'm not joking! This kid _is _Kudo!" he tried to make her see reason, yet only managed to get her to take another step away from him. "Can't you see it? Kudo must have shrunk or something!"

Then, in a desperate attempt to convince the girl, he looked back at Conan. He was about to point out how distressed he looked, definitely after getting discovered, but he found something completely different.

There was not reaction at all from the little boy, besides the way his left eyebrow raised far above his hairline.

It was at that moment that the teenage detective realized there _might _actually be a tiny little flaw in his deduction.

* * *

A/N:

Gamelover41592: Sonoko will eventually appear, but it might take a while for her to properly show up.

SapphireRuby24: It would be really funny if she did, lol. Still, I don't think it would make sense considering Ran has known Conan ever since he was born... I hope you liked this anyway!


	15. Under the Moonlight

**File Fifteen: Under The Moonlight**

"You have to be kidding me," Heiji sighed, facepalming, hard, as they sat beside each other on the bus that was going to take them back home. "You are telling me you're actually Kudo's younger brother?"

"Yeah."

"... And that you are an _actual _seven year-old?"

"If you really are one of the best detectives in Japan, I honestly fear about the future of our country."

"Hey, you can't blame me! You're a weird one, kid," Conan thought he should feel very offended for that, but he really didn't care enough. "For all I know, that crazy professor Kudo has for a neighbor could have made him a drug to make him shrink... or something."

"A shrinking drug? Really?"

"Look, it sounded like a good theory at the time. Terribly insane, yeah, but a plausible one."

Conan laughed, hard, at the stupid conclusion the Osakan detective had gotten to, which only made him scowl at him and look back at the window.

"I'm a bit surprised, and very scared, about the fact you even know about Professor Agasa, yet you didn't know about me," Conan continued, after he had calmed down a bit. "Well, it shouldn't be that shocking. My parents really outdid themselves to hide my existence to the public. Even going as far as changing my family name."

"Why would they do that? That's a bit overboard, if you ask me."

"To let me live a normal life... That's what they said, at least."

"There's more to that, isn't there?"

Conan hesitated, fixing his conflicted blue eyes to his lap. He barely knew this guy and there was little he knew about him, besides that he was an idiot with an even bigger ego than his brother's.

Yet, Hattori Heiji was a detective, a good one, and seemed to be more than willing to search for Shinichi. There was much more than Conan, an elementary school student, could do.

"He doesn't know that I know about this, but Shinichi-niichan seems to have messed up with a dangerous organization."

"Organization?" Heiji went deadly serious at that. "What do you know about them?"

"Not much. Only that they wear black and they have alcohol-themed codenames," the child told him. "So far, I've encountered Gin, Vodka and Sherry. There was also Tequila, but he got caught at an explosion and-"

"Hold it there, kid!" the teen was shocked, holding both his shoulders. "You're telling me you actually-!"

"Only from afar. I didn't make direct contact with any of them."

Except, maybe, Sherry. He had actually came face to face with that enigmatic girl once, but he had yet to figure out why she had let him go just like that. And she must have kept it quiet every since, because he would be pretty dead by now if that wasn't the case.

Heiji gave him a long look before sighing, tiredly, and leaning back on his seat. Finding Kudo would be so much difficult than what he had previously believed, it seemed.

"If he is hiding from them, it makes sense that he would run away so suddenly at that time," Heiji thought out loud. "Even in the condition he was in."

"Condition?"

"Yeah, Kudo dropped to his knees at some point, clutching at his chest and breathing rapidly," Conan's eyes widened at that. "He looked like he was in some sort of pain."

_Severe chest pains. Shortness of breath._

_And then, when I saw him... he was deathly pale. Sweating profusely._

He was confused. There was no doubt that those symptoms looked too much like those of a heart disease, at least too much for his comfort. Yet, he couldn't remember Shinichi having heart problems before, more on the contrary.

The teenage detective had always been healthy, even more than Conan himself.

Then why...

"_There is absolutely no possibility of a human surviving after taking that drug," _Sherry's words rang on his mind, again and again, and he suddenly felt sick.

_Onii-chan... Seriously, what the hell did you get into?_

The child was so deeply immersed inside his own thoughts that he didn't notice Hattori staring at him, eyes narrowed as he analyzed him.

"_It looks like I lost from start to finish this time," Hattori asked, with a defeated smile, as he watched his fellow detective lean tiredly against the wall. "That was good of you, Kudo. Your deductions were superior to mine."_

"_Stupid," Kudo shook his head. "In detective work, there's no winning or losing... there's no being superior or inferior... That's because... there is always one and only truth."_

_Heiji's eyes widened in surprise, as he let those words sink in. At least, until Shinichi suddenly dropped into his knees, hand pressing against his chest, and his breathing becoming shallower._

"_Hey, Kudo! Are you okay?" he asked him, even if he knew the Detective of the East was far from okay._

_Even so, the teen managed to stand up, with some difficulty. "H-Hattori," he managed, between gasps. "Please tell Inspector Megure that I asked to keep my involvement with this in secret."_

_Heiji blinked. "Why?" he asked, confused._

_Shinichi let out a chuckle, as he slowly began walking ─ stumbling ─ towards the door._

"_Because it wouldn't be fair if I got the credit for it. I was only giving that deduction in someone else's place."_

_And, with that, the boy walked through the doorway and soon disappeared from Heiji's sight. For a moment Hattori thought about chasing him, but then decided against it. He needed to tell Megure to keep this quiet before it was too late._

At first, Hattori hadn't thought much about that. When he had came into his erroneous ─ and pretty stupid ─ conclusion from before, he had brushed it off as nonsense he had made up to throw him off.

But looking at the young boy, eyebrows ceased together in concentration and the fingers cradling his chin, he realized it. _Was this kid the person Kudo had been talking about? _Hattori then laughed, softly, turning his gaze to the window.

For a moment, he thought he should feel ashamed to be beaten by a feverish first grader in the art of deduction, but soon he shook it off.

_In detective work there's no winning or losing, huh?_

_That kid is something else, though._

"Say," it wasn't until much later that Conan found his voice again. "Do you think he-? Whoa!"

He was startled when he felt himself picked up, so raised his head to see who was holding him. Ran leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"You should stay away from him, Conan-kun," the girl warned him. "Hattori-kun is a bit..."

"Hey, I can still hear you!" protested Heiji.

Ran said nothing, just held him closer to her chest before walking away. He was then set on her lap, beside her already snoring father, a few seats behind from where they had been.

He couldn't help but snicker, however, at the sight of Heiji turning around to look at the group and cringe, awkwardly, before sitting back, hidden by his own seat. Conan could tell he was embarrassed, it the blush on his cheeks was something to go by.

* * *

Spring vacation was far from over, yet it was raining quite heavily. Conan didn't mind, really, as it meant he could stay indoors reading for as long as he wanted too, in peace, without having his friends coming over to play soccer for the sixth time this week.

As much as he liked his friends, he enjoyed his time alone a lot.

The quietness of the night was suddenly broken with a loud noise of a door closing violently, downstairs. Startled, and a bit worried, he rushed to the office.

Honestly, Conan could've expected a lot of scenarios when he opened the door ─ a robbery, a murder, the organization ─ but a rather pissed off Ran wasn't among them.

"What?" Conan was shocked beyond words. "You saw Shinichi-niichan on Shibuya?!"

"Yeah, I did!" she shouted, angrily. "And he didn't say one word to me! Isn't that rude?!"

Conan blinked, puzzled. Incredibly rude, yes, but also so very unlikely to happen. It was hard to imagine his brother giving the cold shoulder to his childhood friend ─ and crush ─ just like that.

"He probably got tired of you," Kogoro said, as he drank from his beer can. "Just forget about that mystery freak."

To say that Conan felt irritated at such a tactless comment was an understanding.

"I guess so," Ran replied, a dejected expression on his face. "He was walking with another girl."

Conan looked at the girl with a sad expression, when it came to him.

Last Christmas' Eve, he had passed by someone who looked _too_ much like Shinichi. He would've said he was his carbon copy, if it wasn't for his hair ─ curly and unbelievable messy, opposed to Shinichi's naturally straight, easy-to-tame hair.

His eyes then fell on the window, and focused on the water drops running down the glass. _An umbrella... She couldn't have had a good look at him if he carried an umbrella._

"It was a different person!" Ran sent him a glare, and he pressed further. "No, I'm serious! I think I saw that person before!"

The girl blinked, confusedly at him. "You did?"

"Yeah! He looked exactly like Shinichi-niichan, but his hair was completely different. He was carrying a umbrella, wasn't he? That would explain why you couldn't tell them apart."

She stared at him, blankly, for a few seconds before her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You're making this up, aren't you?"

"Eh...? Not really."

Ran let go after a while, evidently not believing a single word the child had said. It was a bit frustrating, but he dropped the topic as soon as Kogoro started talking about that jewel thief Sonoko wanted him to catch.

"It's Kaito 1412," Ran explained, a bit exasperated about the fact that the detective couldn't even remember the name. "I have a copy of the strange note from him that was delivered to Sonoko's place."

Ran took a piece of paper from her pocket and showed it to Kogoro. Letting curiosity take the best of him, Conan walked to the desk and peered from behind the detective to take a look.

"_April's fool._

_When the moon divides two people under the name of Black Star pushed by the waves I will arrive._

─ _Kaitou..."_

The name was torn off because Sonoko's father had ripped it away, furiously, so Sonoko and Ran had to piece it back together. Conan gave it a long, analytical look before snapping a photo at the note with his phone, without anyone noticing, and excused himself to bed.

Once there, he sat on his futon, phone in hand, opening the navigator instantly. It was time for a little research.

Unsurprisingly, little was known about the elusive thief. Only that he had first appeared eighteen years ago in Paris, and mysteriously disappeared ten years later. For some reason, he had came back not that long ago, and was constantly terrorizing Japan.

Well, not _terrorizing, _exactly. More like stealing expensive jewels only to return them not long thereafter. Conan failed to understand why he would do such a thing. _He isn't replacing them for fake ones either, _he noted. Jewels were usually checked after every single one of the thief's heists, and they were as real as they can be.

The media just thought that he just liked to play around, but Conan was highly unconvinced. Nobody would go this far just to make a good joke. There was some hidden motive behind his actions, and the child was determined to find out.

Even so, it was because of this attitude that a writer had nicknamed him KID. And that was it. The thief called himself Kaito KID just because it sounded cool.

And there he was now, standing elegantly under the moonlight, white cape fluttering through the wind while he smirked down at him, as if he had foreseen everything that was about to come. Conan was could only stare for a moment, before he smiled like a cute little child.

He was all alone with the thief. All because Kogoro had came into the wrong conclusion a few days ago and now he was with the police, waiting at the wrong place.

"Ah, it's KID-san!" the child smiled, adorably.

As the thief walked closer to him, a grin on his face, Conan noted he couldn't be older than his brother. Which was strange, considering he was supposed to be have disappeared eighteen years ago, as a grown man.

"Yo, kid," Conan was startled for a moment. "What are you doing at a place like this?"

The moonlight shone on his face and, for a moment, he saw a familiar face. Not only that, his voice and physique was almost the same.

_Could he...?_

He shook that thought instantly.

"I wanted to see you," he turned around and kneeled down in front of what he had prepared. "Let's celebrate, KID-san."

The fireworks lighted up the sky, and KID didn't seem to react to it. Soon there was an helicopter surrounding the building they were in. Conan feigned surprise and worry as he looked back at him.

"Oh, sorry, I messed up!" he clapped his hands together as he apologized. "The police seems to have seen us."

Kaito KID just chuckled, amused for some reason.

"You're not an ordinary brat, little boy. What's your name?"

Conan smirked back, letting his act drop. "Edogawa Conan," he replied, easily. "A detective."

"Oh~?"

"Don't you have something to be more worried about, now? Like, the police that is coming for you."

KID brought his hand to his chin, as if he was thinking. Conan's eyes narrowed, slightly, as he checked him over with his gaze.

_His actions and mannerisms are completely different, but... _his hands were behind his back, readying his wrist watch. _His intelligence, voice and overall appearance seems to match._

He was going to do it, the moment he turned around to flee. _There's only one way to know, _he only had only one chance. _I will unmask you and find the truth, Kaito KID!_

Conan was brought out his thoughts when the thief in white pulled out a radio from nowhere.

"This is Chaki," his voice had changed, dramatically. "I have sighted Kaito KID on the rooftop of the Haido City Hotel."

_What the...?_

The elementary school student didn't know if what was more surprising. For one, the thief was easily changing his voice without the need for a special device. For other, he was _luring _them to the place where he was.

Could he be just playing with them?

_No, there must be another reason._

He found would find out soon enough, he realized. Soon, the dark night sky was illuminated by the helicopters surrounding the thief, who in turn just gave the young boy a smug smile.

"Are you satisfied now, tantei-kun?"

The child in question was too shocked to reply, even more so when Inspector Nakamori and more police officers bursted in, pointing guns at an unfaced, and very amused, KID.

"Tonight is just a practice drill. I have no intention of stealing it."

"The note," Conan's eyes opened in realization as he mumbled. "April's fool."

"Oh, that's not bad at all!" the child had to suppress the urge to raise his eyebrow when the thief clapped with a grin. Then, his cape turned into a hang glider.

A flash bomb was dropped and Conan had to shield his eyes.

"Hey, kid, did you know?" he could heard him say. "A thief is a creative artist who takes his prey in style, but a detective is nothing more than a critic who follows our footsteps."

And just like that, the thief vanished into the still night, leaving a note behind as the only proof he had been there:

"_On April 19, aboard the Queens Elizabeth, which embarks from Yokohama Harbor,_

_I will arrive to steal the real Black Star._

─ _Kaito KID."_

He also left behind a very confused and equally annoyed seven year-old detective.

* * *

Exactly nineteen days later, Conan was boarding the cruise with an analytical look behind his thick glasses. His eyes narrowed and darted across the room, cursing under his breath that right now _everyone _looked suspicious.

_With that vocal range and a good disguise, sneaking in shouldn't be a problem for him._

And soon he was proved right, when they realized that Sonoko's father was still on his home, instead of the party, even if he had just been seen giving a speech. Conan found his clothes in the bathroom not long thereafter.

"Ran sure is taking a long time," Kogoro frowned. The girl had just went to search for Conan, who in turn had been running around looking for clues, and had yet to return.

"She probably got lost somewhere," Sonoko offered. "Ran's direction-impaired, after all."

Conan sighed, tiredly. _Might as well go search for her. _If everything his brother had told him about Ran is that her sense of direction is so bad that she would stay lost for _days _until someone could find her.

Mostly Shinichi would be the first to spot her, and the child had been told that fact hadn't changed ever since childhood. Conan had teased him about that fact, and he had just claimed it was part of his work as a detective, blushing furiously as he said that.

"... I'm direction-impaired, am I?"

The small boy was shocked to see the girl standing behind Sonoko, with a slightly annoyed expression on her face. _When did she...?_

He was brought out of his thoughts when Superintendent Chaki started to speak. He claimed that KID was a master of disguise and that he might be among them. The man asked everyone to pair up with someone and decide on a password.

_This is utterly useless, _Conan rolled his eyes. _If KID is among us already, it will be for nothing._

"Hey," the kid looked at Ran when she spoke. "What should ours be?"

For a moment Conan was about to tell her to drop it, when something occurred to him. He just smiled, cutely, and whispered in her ear.

"Okay, so when I say 'Holmes'..."

"I'll say 'Lupin'," she nodded.

_Lupin? _his eyes did not leave her, even as she turned around to see the lights flickering out. _Knowing Ran-neechan, she would've picked something like Watson, or even Irene. Definitely not a thief._

He ignored the fake KID appearing and Sonoko's mother shooting him for a show. Conan already _knew _who the thief was, anyway.

Like so, the child kept silent as he observed Ran, who just fell into her knees to help the magician pick up the cards he had dropped.

* * *

"Hey, Conan-kun," Ran called, looking around, when they stopped walking.

KID had successfully managed to steal the Black Star chaos had broken in the Queens Elizabeth, the police desperate to find the thief a few moments ago. Right after Sonoko's mother screamed, claiming to have lost the pearl, Conan had simply started walking, claiming to have finally found out who KID was.

"What?" the boy asked, not even giving her a glance. His eyes, instead, focused on a soccer ball that just lied there, abandoned, and began play with it, kicking it around.

She just blinked at him.

"This is the engine room," she pointed out with a weirded smile on her face.

"Yeah, I noticed," he replied, voice flat and bored. "I wonder what gave it away."

Ran's smile dropped and frowned at him. "That was unusually rude coming from you, Conan-kun."

"Speaking of unusual behavior, I thought you were a nice girl who highly valued justice."

The room was quiet and the ball stopped moving, pressed against the floor with Conan's foot. He turned around, his eyes hidden by the light refracting on his glasses.

"I didn't expect you to resort to thievery, Ran-neechan... Or should I say Kaito KID-san?"

For a second, the imposter was shocked. Then, 'Ran' seemed to calm down and started to giggle.

"Don't joke like that, Conan-kun-"

"I _never _joke when it concerns crime. If you were Ran-neechan, you would know that already."

"Fine," the thief went to the phone. "If you doubt me so much, let's call the police and-"

Kaito KID had the shock of his life when a soccer ball was shot at his face, with such a strength that made him wonder what did little kids have for breakfast nowadays. Luckily he moved around just in time and missed his face just by an inch, shattering the phone behind him.

"I might be a child, but I wasn't born yesterday. Did you really think I was going to let you pull the same stupid stunt twice in a row?"

Then, something on his eyes shone that made KID's hair stand on point. There was fire, anger between those young eyes.

"Now, unless you want _this _in your face, you'll tell me," he spoke, dangerously, motioning at the ball on his feet. "Where is Ran-neechan?"

"Calm down, calm down, tantei-kun," the thief said quickly, hoping to appease the very angry little child. "She's fine. Just sleeping in a lifeboat."

It didn't make him feel better, but at least he calmed down a bit after being assured that his sister figure was safe ─ at least, calmed down enough not to break his nose or something.

Yet, the way the thief's voice had changed to his original one, the one that resembled too much his brother's for his liking, was _weird._

Not to say that it was rather creepy to see Ran using Shinichi's voice.

Despite himself, he shivered a bit.

"Maybe you should hurry up. I borrowed these clothes from that girl, and she might catch a cold," he pulled a pink bra from his chest. "I'm a perfectionist when it comes to disguises."

"Not that much, apparently, considering Ran-neechan usually wears sports bra."

Kaito KID was scandalized. "How did you-?!"

"I don't, really. Just wanted a reaction," he smirked. "Thanks to you, now I know you truly didn't steal her clothes."

The thief stared at the kid, with an amused expression, and pulled sunglasses out of nowhere. The light blinded the child for a moment and, with a puff of smoke, the criminal disappeared, the door left open on his escape.

He didn't waste any time and took off running after him. It was fruitless, because he soon lost track of him. It was like he had vanished into thin air.

As if he had never been there.

The child sighed, tiredly, leaning into the rails of the ship, eyes fixed on the black waves gently rocking the surface he stood in.

There was something on his pocket, covered in a cloth, he realized. His eyebrow started to twitch when he looked at the black pearl resting on the palm of his hand.

_Damn it, that cheap, old fashioned Tuxedo Mask wanna-be._

"_A thief is a creative artist who takes his prey in style, but a detective is nothing more than a critic who follows our footsteps."_

He closed his hand tightly against the jewel.

_Creative artist, yeah right._

Conan let out a long sigh, putting the pearl back on his pocket, resting his face against the rails.

At least there was something he was completely sure of. The Shinichi he knew would never speak ill about the work of a detective. He would never put Ran to sleep and use her as a disguise.

He smiled, brightly. Yes, because he _knew _his brother.

Then it came back to him. Gin, Vodka. Their cold eyes. Shinichi nodding at them while looking at the photo of someone else's face.

The gun. The muzzle on Conan's face. Shinichi's icy blue eyes staring at him.

His smile faltered.

* * *

A/N:

Yose Hyuann: Most likely Conan won't be called 'Kudo' by Heiji because I think it sounds a bit weird to call a child like that. About the movie, most likely yes, in a couple of chapters. I hope all your other questions could get answered in this chapter!

Lieutenant Myst: That's so cool! I've wanted to read And Then There Were None for a long time now, mostly because I have heard nothing but good things about that book, but I haven't have the time yet. Maybe I'll start reading it when I finish Holmes, which I have recently started on.


	16. No Different than a Murderer

**File Sixteen: No Different than a Murderer**

Conan had another bad dream that night and he was quite tired of it. This time around he had absolutely no idea what had triggered it on his mind, but it did. Luckily, however, nobody noticed his whimpers over Kogoro's loud snoring.

He unlocked the phone and it opened to an internet random search. _Ah, that's why, _he realized. The child had fallen asleep while investigating about a certain case that had popped into his mind suddenly.

_The fire of Ekoda Hospital._

He didn't know why he had forgotten about that ─ he hadn't remembered it until he recalled seeing his brother talking with Gin last April. Conan figured he hadn't _wanted_ to remember it.

There wasn't much about it that he hadn't heard already when had heard it on the news. The only victim had been the head doctor, Watanabe Satoshi, whose body had been so damaged that they wouldn't have recognized him if it wasn't for his teeth marks.

As brutal as sad as the death seemed to be, the police hadn't managed to find anything that could lead it to be either murder or suicide. So, they had labeled it as a tragic accident.

Or was it...?

_What am I even thinking? _Conan let himself fall back on his futon, groaning as he massaged his forehead. His head had started to hurt from thinking too much.

_He wouldn't... Onii-chan wouldn't..._

His little hand clenched around his phone.

* * *

Conan glanced around, in awe, as he walked behind Kogoro and Ran through the impressively big garden. The famous detective had gotten a case and it was from the chairman of the Nagato Group himself, so evidently the man was proud of himself, and certain that he would solve the case.

"Hey," at some point, Ran dragged her father closer to her so she could whisper on his ear. "What does such an important person want from you?"

"The chairman himself requested the great detective Mouri Kogoro," he puffed out his chest. "He wants me to solve a difficult case."

"Or maybe it's just another case of adultery," Conan pointed out, blatantly ignoring the killer glare he received from the older man. "Which doesn't mean it's not a difficult one, considering Kogoro-ojisan."

"Watch your mouth, you little-!"

Just as he was about to hit him across the head, Conan ducked, causing Kogoro to lose his balance and stumble forward. Both daughter and child stared at the fallen detective, who had gotten struck on one of the many holes around the pond.

The butler panicked and the little boy sweatdropped.

_Yeah, this is the famous great detective, Mouri Kogoro..._

They got inside right after that embarrassing scene and climbed up the stairs. As he did, Conan's curious eyes couldn't help but wander towards the group of police.

_It looks like a serious case, _he blinked. _Wait... Was Occhan actually right?_

It turned out he hadn't, since the bedridden and sick chairman had only requested the detective ─ an old friend of his had recommended Kogoro ─ to find his first love as soon as possible. When he heard that, Conan snickered, but looked away when he noticed Kogoro glaring at him, with a very threatening look on his eyes.

His lips remained curved upward, though.

"Anyway, who's the old friend that recommended me?"

The door opened. "It's me," and a man appeared. Conan recognized him as one of the people he had seen with the police downstairs.

"He's the Osaka Prefecture Police Headquarters Chief," the chairman introduced him. "Hattori Heizo-kun."

While the other two were surprised about his important position, Conan couldn't help but think about something else. _Hattori? Wait, does that mean that...?_

"Hey, long time no see!"

As he had expected, Hattori Heiji's grinning face popped up from the doorway. He took a step forward, in order to ask him what he was doing here, when a female hand rested on his shoulder.

Ran was looking at Heiji, with an awkward smile on her face.

"Hey..." the teenage boy huffed at her reaction, a bit annoyed.

It took Conan roughly twenty minutes to finally convince the girl that, yes, it was perfectly safe to stand less than a six feet away from him, that, yes, he wasn't going to take anything he said seriously, and and that, yes, he might be a bit insane, but he was a good guy. _Probably._

Heiji had tried to ignore the duo as they discussed his mental health. It was a tiny bit embarrassing, if the detective of the West was being honest.

Finally, the girl agreed with the child. That didn't stop her from glancing towards the boy from time to time, especially when the two seemed to talk to each other.

* * *

Nagato Mitsuaki, the chairman's son-in-law, had been killed that night.

It had begun with a phone call. Mitsuaki had said that he couldn't find Hideomi, the chairman's eldest son, when he suddenly screamed. He had claimed that he had been stabbed and that he was on the room right below them.

When they looked down from the balcony they saw a bandaged man with a knife on his mouth. Their gazes met with the emotionless eyes of a cold-blooded killer.

Miyuki had stayed behind, crying her eyes out, as the others ran downstairs. The doors had been locked causing the butler to rush to look for the key.

By the time they had entered, the room was completely empty. It hadn't been until a few seconds that Conan found the body, impaled by the fence.

Taking advantage that everyone was paying attention to Nobuko's story about the fire that had ruined Hideomi's face, Conan grabbed into the hem of Heiji's shirt and dragged him out the room.

"Hey, hurry up and tell me," the kid said to him. "Why are we here?"

"Heh, you're sharp," Conan did not bat an eye at that. "The truth is that the chairman said he heard a strange noise last night."

"A strange noise?"

"Yeah, the sound of someone running quietly in the hallway in the middle of the night, and the sounds of objects colliding over and over again."

Conan did not reply, just brought a hand to his chin as he thought, lost on his own little world. Meanwhile, Heiji waited for him to finish whichever chain of thought he was right now, amused at the way his eyes glinted a little bit as he tried to connect the dots.

"Premeditated murder, huh?" the brilliant child finally said, after a while. "That's why you called Occhan, didn't you?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Without another word, the little boy sprinted away to the crime scene, pretending to be a very curious child. But Heiji knew he wasn't as innocent as he was pretending to be. He could see the way his eyes sharpened at the sight of the stab wound on Mitsuaki's hand, or how he througoutfully scanned the area, trying to get any piece of information he could.

Even if he was small, the kid acted exactly like a detective. _Guess it runs down in the family._

They didn't find Hideomi until two days later. They discovered it after they Mitsuaki dropped her father's beloved fountain pen and had to dry the pond. His body was there, underwater, hidden from plain sight. There was also a suicide note, where he had claimed being the one behind the murder.

Yet Conan and Heiji knew it wasn't the case. Hideomi had most likely died before the crime had been committed.

The kid sneaked away again and managed to interrogate some people that worked there. He only discovered that Hideomi had eaten a lot more than usual on the past days and that a bed sheet had been missing ever since.

Frowning slightly, he began to think it over.

_What does this have to do with anything?_

"Hey, kid," Heiji appeared suddenly inside the kitchen, where he had been asking the personal. "You might want so check this out."

They went outside and went all around the house. There, Heiji pointed at Mitsuaki's balcony, and he saw a dent on the bottom, like something had hit that spot. The same mark was also on Nobuko's balcony ─ lots of them, he realized after taking a closer look.

Heiji blinked when the boy took off running, away. "Hey!" he called, and the child stopped, looking at him, confusedly. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to check it out."

"... Check what out...?" the Osakan teenager felt a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "You don't mean...?"

Rolling his eyes at him the little boy continued his way, and Heiji had no other option but to reluctantly follow him. As soon as they reached Nobuko's room, the detective began to regret his decision.

"This isn't really a good idea," Heiji voiced, but Conan had already slipped inside, looking under the bed. "This isn't any different from a burglar."

"It's fine, it's fine," he shrugged off, checking the drawers. "A child _can't _really be charged for burglary."

"And what about me?" the Detective of the West pressed further, closing the door behind his back.

Conan paused to give him a plain look. "Why are you asking _me_?" then he continued. "You're the adult here... or, rather, the closest to adulthood between the two of us. Make your own decisions."

"Listen, kid-!"

"You might want to lower your voice a bit. The walls aren't exactly soundproof, Hattori-san. While I can't be charged for breaking in, you certainly can."

Heiji's eyebrow started twitching, involuntarily, and as soon as he was considering if getting persecuted for child murder ─ as well as invasion of private property ─ was really _that _bad, the phone beside him started ringing, loudly. He froze on place, his mind panicking.

Yet the kid calmly picked up the phone, and placed his bowtie in front of his mouth. "Yes," Heiji wondered if he was actually going insane when he heard the voice of a older woman coming from the kid's lips. "This is Nobuko."

To say that the great detective of the West was stunned was more than an understatement. He knew for a fact that this kid, Kudo Conan ─ or Edogawa Conan, as he went by ─ was unlike any other seven year-old he had previously met. While other children would struggle with multiplication tables, this one aced deductive reasoning. He was bright and very intelligent, smarter than most adults, even.

His shock died down not long thereafter and an amused smirk appeared on his face.

Conan finished the call, with the other being no wiser that he was actually talking to a child. It turned out Nobuko had been calling this person two days ago, at the time of the crime.

"So it was not her..." the kid concluded. "It must have been Hideomi-san, but.."

"Okay, let's go and search Hideomi-han's room."

Heiji was out the room in an instant, followed by the child. The little one eyed him for a bit, until he chuckled. "Who's the burglar now?"

"I need to step up on my game," he told the child, his hand resting on the knob. "I can't let a kid like you beat me."

"Idiot, somebody got murdered. This is not a competition."

"Yeah, yeah."

The kid just gave him a long look, before walking towards a random pile of books, and began looking for clues. Heiji shrugged and did the same, even if he couldn't get around the fact that a mere child had just scolded him for being highly insensitive.

A recorded message on Hideomi's phone was all they needed to figure out who was the killer. Checking on Mitsuaki's room, the pair found a dirty sheet, a swimming cap and a syringe smeared with blood, and smiled to each other. Things were looking up.

* * *

Hattori was startled when a small hand took Miyuki's fountain pen ─ which he had held on before and was supposed to give back to its owner ─ and raised it in front of his eyes, looking at it closely. Placing it back on top of the table, he grabbed into another pen that randomly laid around.

"Hattori-san," he stretched his hand at him. "Hold into my watch. Tightly."

"Eh? What do you-?"

"Just do it already."

Hesitantly, the boy wrapped his fingers around the strap and the child pulled. He honestly had no idea what the kid was trying to prove, until he felt a sharp pain on his hand, that prompted him to let go instantly. "Oww!" he cried in pain. "What do you think you are doing, you little-?!"

"Evidence," the child replied without blinking, putting the pen away, and pointed at the very red spot on Heiji's hand. "There was a weird and very stabbing wound on Mitsuaki's hand. With my strength, I could barely scratch you, but an adult..."

Heiji's eyes opened in realization, looking back at Miyuki's pen, thus realizing that the tip was strangely bent. "Oh, I see," then, he glared at the child. "But you could've just told me that without having to do that demonstration."

He shrugged. "I was channeling some stress."

_What am I? _Heiji's eyebrow twitched. _A punching bag?_

"Hattori-kun!" came Ran's voice as she opened the door, Miyuki trailing behind. "So this is where you were. Why don't you give Miyuki-san's fountain pen back to her?"

Hattori rubbed the back of his head, apologizing quickly as he handed it back to her. Meanwhile, Ran took Conan's little hand. "Come, we're going home now, Conan-kun," she told him. "That's enough playing detective for a day. It's late."

"Huh? What time is it now?" Hattori asked.

Both detectives noticed the way Miyuki glanced at her wrist for less than a second, then turned to the wall clock. "It's ten to seven."

"Good, the stores are open!" he grasped the list he had been writing a few minutes before, using Miyuki's pen, and handed it to Ran. "Ran-neechan, sorry to bother you, but can you go buy this for me?"

"Uh... Okay..."

"Please call everyone up to the room right above Nobuko-han's an hour for now," in a swift moment, he plucked Conan from the ground and ran off, with the child under his arm. "And I am borrowing this kid!"

Ran wanted to stop him, but she just watched as the detective scurried away, carrying Conan with him. "Honestly, what's wrong with that guy?" she sighed.

* * *

"Okay, so are you absolutely sure you can do that part?" Conan asked him, after discussing what they were going to do. "It's a bit risky."

"It's not like you can do it, can you?" the child tsked at that sentence, earning a laugh from the Detective of the West, while he turned around to the door. "Sorry, sorry. I'll be okay. My climbing skills aren't actually that bad."

As Heiji moved, Conan's eyes noticed something that was resting on the table, that had been hidden by the Osakan teen's body just a few seconds ago. Instantly after that, he climbed up the table and opened the thermos that had just caught his eye.

Realization dawned on him, prompting his eyes to widen slightly and his lips to press together.

"_You idiot!" a six year-old burst inside on the hospital room, panting like he had been running. He probably had. "What were you thinking?"_

_The high school detective watched his brother with a weak smile, as he laid on bed. There was a bandage wrapped all around his neck, where the killer had accidentally slashed through._

_It was a miracle the cut hadn't been too deep, the doctors had said. It would itch for a long time, and talking would be a pain for a few months, but he would be okay. _

_But why...?_

"Wait, Hattori-san," the child called, successfully stopping the older boy from leaving. "Help me with something before you leave."

He would've done it alone, but the thermos was too heavy for a little boy to hold, let alone change its contents.

"Gasoline," Conan said to the detective before he could ask. Heiji understood what he meant right away.

* * *

"I'm here, Hattori-kun. What did you need to talk to me about?" said Inspector Megure as he entered the room, followed by everyone else. He just found Conan inside, however, sitting on a chair with his back facing the balcony. "Conan-kun? Where's Hattori-kun?"

The little boy shrugged, innocently. "Hattori-san just told me to wait for you on this room," he told them. "I guess he forgot something."

Kogoro scoffed. "As expected from that detective brat," he shook his head. "Gathering us all here for nothing."

Just as he was saying that, the phone beside him started to ring, startling everyone sans Conan, who smirked at the sight of Megure picking up the phone. "Hello," he said, with uncertainty.

"It's me," the kansai-accented voice said on the other side.

"Oh," Megure sighed, in relief. "It's just you, Hattori-kun."

Said relief was cut short when Heiji screamed, alerting the inspector. "H-Hey!" Megure worried. "What's wrong?!"

"Someone shut the lights and has a knife!"

"Where are you now?"

"In the room right below you. Take a look!"

Megure obeyed and got closer to the balcony. His eyes widened dramatically when he saw a bandaged man standing down below who then turned to glare up at him. There was a knife between his teeth.

Noticing the inspector's shock, Kogoro did the same and gasped.

"W-What's going on?!" he stuttered.

"I don't know," the other man replied calmly walked to the door. Kogoro followed. "Whatever the case, I'm going downstairs to save him."

"I think you should stay," the young voice caused everyone to stop. "Because Hattori-san said that it you did that you might miss it..."

There was a metal clang. Everyone froze in place, blood suddenly running cold when a bandaged face appeared from behind the child.

"The best part," Conan completed, with a smirk on his face.

The man climbed up the rope and swiftly stood up on the balcony. When she saw him approaching Conan from behind, Ran panicked.

"Conan-kun, behind you!"

"Don't worry," a familiar voice filled their ears, as the bandaged man placed a hand over the child's shoulder. He, on turn, didn't react to it. "It's me."

With that, Heiji pulled his bandages off, revealing his true identity. Like so, the detective began his deduction show.

Just like Conan expected to, Miyuki was exposed as the criminal behind Mitsuaki's death. He listened as Heiji explained that the two of them ─ victim and criminal ─ had made a plan to kill the chairman, but the woman had betrayed him at the last second and killed him, before trying to frame Hideomi ─ who had commited suicide a few days before the crime ─ for it.

"That can't be!" Ran cried suddenly. "Hideomi-san saved her life! She couldn't possible frame it!"

Conan looked at the girl, noticing the tears collecting on her eyes, and couldn't help but drop his gaze to the ground, upset. Of course Ran, the pure-hearted girl she was, would believe in Miyuki until the very end.

_But, _the child lamented on his head. _Not everyone is like you, Ran-neechan._

_Envy, hatred, sorrow, greed... They all live in on the deepest and darkest part of our hearts, just because we are human._

_Yet some people let those bad feelings shape them, take control of their actions. To commit such disgusting acts, like murder._

_Yes... Everyone can become a murderer in the blink of an eye._

_But..._

Deep in his own thoughts as the child was, he completely missed Heiji proving she was the culprit.

"But...!" Ran tried to argue. "Why would Miyuki-san...?

"The fire was probably the motive," Hattori explained. "Twenty years ago, the ones that caused the fire were none other than Mitsuaki-han and Hideomi-han."

Shock was written all over their faces, but the detective still continued.

"Hideomi-han refused to get surgery on his face because he was atoning for that crime and assuming there was more to that note, and he was admitting to the crime, then everything would fall into place."

"I see," Megure nodded, solemnly. "Then it was revenge for her parents who perished in the fire."

Conan noticed that Miyuki had started to shake, slightly, her hand sliding inside the pocket of her blazer, causing the little boy to frown.

He knew well enough what she had in there.

"_He tried to stab himself," Shinichi replied, his voice hoarse from his wound, as he looked at the ceiling. "I tried to stop him, but I got hurt in the process."_

"_Still!" the child argued. "You can't just put your life in danger because of a cold-blooded murderer!"_

_His brother's smile dropped and his vibrant blue eyes flickered to the child. He wasn't mad, yet he was serious, more serious than the child had ever seen him in months. Ever since he had moved to Japan with him._

_Shinichi opened his mouth to speak. _

"But there's one thing I don't understand," Hattori confessed. "Why did she go through the trouble of making Nobuko-han angry in order for us to find Hideomi-han? That was on purpose, right? If she'd left him there, the police would have found him eventually."

Her lip trembled, eyes watering as she fought to find her words through the knot on her throat. Eventually, with a sob, she choked:

"I didn't want to leave him any longer in that cold water..."

With that, the woman rushed to the corner of the room, swiftly taking the thermos with her and crouching down. Everyone in the room paled when she pulled out a lighter from her pocket.

"Please don't come any closer!" she cried. "There's gasoline in this pot!"

"Hey! Don't be foolish!" Megure panicked.

"I'm serious!"

"It's as the detective says. Everything about the fire was in the note," the woman, while teary eyed, confessed. "I couldn't forgive them. Mitsuaki-san who lived carefree despite what he did... and Hideomi-san who kept silent about it for so long."

She broke on the middle of her sentence, and soon tears started to flow freely from her eyes and down her cheeks.

"But... I... loved him hopelessly! He put his life on the line to save me! He always encouraged me after I lost my family, and... he even accepted my proposal."

Conan gave the crying woman a long, contemplative look, before slowly standing up from his chair.

"But Hideomi-san is gone. I'm alone again. I have to go and join him."

"I'm truly sorry, but I don't think you can, Miyuki-san."

Everyone, including Miyuki gasped. Horror filled Ran's features as soon as she noticed the child standing there, with a solemn look on his face, right in front of the woman. Too close for her comfort. If she set herself on fire, Conan could get hurt in the process... or worse.

"Conan-kun!" Ran cried, trying to get closer to the child, but unable to because of the tight grip her father had on her. "Get away from there, Conan-kun!"

"Don't go any closer, Ran," Kogoro ordered her, in vain, then turned to the small boy. "Conan, what do you think you are doing?!"

"It's okay," Hattori reassured them. "There's only water inside."

They all looked at the detective, stunned, and the woman just opened the cap to realize that, indeed, there was no gasoline inside. "Why...?" the pot was smacked away by the wailing woman. "Why?! Why?! Their fire lit so easily, why doesn't mine?!"

As the culprit sobbed and cried, inconsolably, Conan could only remain quietly still on place, hands balled into tiny fists. It was heartbreaking to see that scene in front of him, looking at that poor woman that had nothing left to go by but sadness and despair.

He released a long sigh.

"Because he loved you," he said to her.

Miyuki paused, raising her eyes to meet the boys'. It was then that he offered a sad, but kind smile.

"Hideomi-san loved you hopelessly as well. He would hate it if he saw you ending the life he had saved all those years ago."

The woman stared at him for a few seconds, eyes widening before they filled with tears and overflowed again. With a sob and a rough rub of her eyes, she nodded at him with a sad smile.

Conan passed by Hattori when he walked away from her and their eyes met. Just by looking at him, the child could tell. There was some hesitation on his face, and sadness too, so that the kid could safely deduce that Heiji felt a bit guilty.

Wondering if they had just sentenced that woman to a world of pain and grief.

So, he told him:

"A detective who corners a culprit with their reasoning and drives them to suicide in front of himself is no different than a murderer."

Heiji was so stunned he couldn't reply at such wise words coming from such a small mouth. Without saying anything, the two boys stared at each other for a moment, until the child's gaze broke away from his. He glanced at the door, that had just opened.

Behind it, the chairman appeared and confessed to her that Miyuki's beloved fountain pen hadn't belonged to her father, but to her mother. It had been a going-away gift the old man had given to her mother in elementary school.

"I won't ask you to forgive Hideomi's crime, but you're still young. You still have your whole life ahead of you. Live your life, even for Hideomi. I'm sure your mother would feel that way, too."

When the chairman smiled at her and they hugged, Conan knew. Miyuki was going to be okay.

* * *

"Doesn't it bother you?"

Conan looked up at Heiji, blinking confused eyes at him as they waited at the station for the train to come. Ran was talking with her father, probably scolding him about something, so they had been left alone for a little bit.

"I got all the credit, even if you did your part as well," Hattori clarified, then saw the kid shrugging. "It must be annoying."

"Not that much, really. I don't care if my work is recognized as long as the truth comes to light," the child told him. "Besides, it's not like they are going to take a child like me seriously."

Hattori laughed for some reason, hand pressing against his face, while Conan just stared at him like he was nuts.

"Who would've believed that the mastermind behind the great detective Mouri Kogoro is still in elementary school?"

"It's not my fault if he seems to pin every single murder as a suicide," Conan sighed and Heiji snorted, picturing that. "Anyway, don't pretend you didn't realize it until now because I know you didn't call us so Occhan could help you out."

"I had the feeling it was you since the other time, but I wanted to confirm it."

The kid didn't seem affected at all by the fact that he had been tested by the detective. It was like he didn't really care, and that alone greatly surprised the teen.

"You're definitely something else, kid," Hattori sighed. "When I was your age, I would throw a tantrum if people didn't pay attention to what I deduced. Even if I was wrong half of the time."

"That hasn't changed, has it? You still are quite the attention seeker," he teased with a smirk, causing Heiji to glare at him. "... Just like somebody I know."

There was something that flickered behind the child's eyes as he said that sentence that caused the Detective of the West to recede and worry. Conan's smirk was more forced than before and his gaze was fixed at some random spot on the distance, frowning slightly at himself.

"Say, kid, there has been something bothering you all day, hasn't it?"

"Huh? Why would you say-?" he stopped when Heiji, with a raised eyebrow, waved his hand in front of his face, clearly referring to the angry, yet little, red spot on top on his hand. "Oh."

"Oh," Heiji confirmed with a nod.

Conan said nothing at first, clearly pondering over how to put his words together. Taking this as a sign that the child was not going to talk, Heiji sighed, defeated, and pressed his back against his seat.

His voice came through, though. Quietly and almost timidly.

"What would you do, Hattori-san... What would you do if you believe that somebody you thought you knew like the back of your hand and that... that you love a lot is a murderer?"

Hattori froze at that question, not quite liking where this was going. Glancing towards the kid, he noticed he wasn't even facing him, but he seemed to have a staring contest with the ground, hands clenched on top of his lap, probably trying to hide how much they were trembling.

A hand awkwardly patted his hair, causing the kid to flinch.

"First, try not to jump into conclusions," Hattori told him, seriously. "If you think that something is amiss in your theory, you should investigate deeper."

"_A detective who corners a culprit with their reasoning and drives them to suicide in front of himself is no different than a murderer."_

Conan frowned at his brother's words. _It really doesn't match, does it?_

"I'll help you if you want. For free, even," the child looked back at him, surprised. "Is it there something you want me to investigate for you?"

The kid hesitated, then sighed. "Watanabe Satoshi," he told him with a nod. "I feel like there's something unnatural with his death."

Heiji's index finger and thumb went to his chin, stroking it lightly as he thought. "Say, isn't that guy the one that-"

"Hattori-kun?" Ran's sudden voice startled both boys. She didn't seem to notice as she seemed to keep blinking at him. "What happened to your hand?"

It didn't take them more than a second to realize she was talking about the small wound on his hand. _Ran-neechan is quite observant, _Conan thought, in awe.

"Don't tell me..." her eyes widened. "You stabbed yourself with a pen to prove the criminal was Miyuki-san..."

Nobody said anything, as they stared back at Ran for a moment. Then, Hattori's index finger pointed at Conan, who just pretended to blink back at him, cluelessly.

"He did it, that little imp!" he accused.

"But, Hattori-san..." when Conan smiled at him sweetly Hattori decided he wanted to puke. "I didn't even know about the trick until you made your deduction!"

Hattori just glared at him. _That little bastard..._

Just by the look Ran had on her face, eyebrows raised and half opened eyelids, the detective knew whose story she had chosen to believe. Silently, she took Conan's hand and began to steer him away.

"Listen, Conan-kun. Stabbing yourself to prove something isn't normal," he could hear them talk as they walked away. "Make sure you don't pick any of Hattori-kun's weird habits, okay?"

"Okay," he nodded at her.

"Don't just agree that casually!" Hattori yell could be heard all over the platform.

* * *

A/N:

Lieutenant Myst: Really? I really need to read Agatha Christie now lol.

Yose Hyuann: Don't worry, you haven't caused any trouble! In fact, I enjoy answering these kind of questions:)

Dy: Ai will appear soon, I promise. Thank you for all those suggestions! I will take some of them in consideration for future chapters.


	17. The Bomber's Call

**File Seventeen: The Bomber's Call**

"... I seriously can't understand her anymore," Conan rolled his eyes, for the eleventh time, as he heard his brother complaining. "At first she seems to want me to go back home, but then she yells at me for anything I say!"

The boy wanted to laugh, and sigh at the same time. _He sounds just like Mom, _he noted, slightly amused at the fact that Shinichi had always complained about their mother calling him to whine about their father.

As amusing as it was, however, the child didn't really want to deal with it. Agasa seemed to recognize his irritation, sweatdropping with an awkward smile on his face.

"-and she got all mad when I told her I wouldn't be able to go watch an all-night movie marathon this Saturday," Shinichi complained, sighing loudly. _It's me who wants to sigh! _the child cried on his mind. "Why May 3rd though? Any other day would be just as fine."

Conan truly wished he could be surprised but, sadly, he couldn't. He just mildly shrugged, as he pulled the letters from the box Agasa had brought him and placed them on the top of the table.

"Maybe because May 4th is a special day? She probably wants to be with you when it hits midnight."

Shinichi gasped and for a moment Conan thought he had finally understood.

"May 4th is the day Holmes and Moriarty fell down the Reichenbach Falls!"

_For the brightest teenage detective of the East, he is pretty stupid._

"Wait, that means... Did you get her into Sherlock Holmes, Conan?"

"You basically traumatized her into never touching a mystery book in her entire life," Conan stated, with a plain voice. "More than thirteen years of hearing somebody talk non-stop about him does that to people."

"Then, she..."

"No, she _definitely _did not mean that."

"So, what is it?" he sounded terribly frustrated.

"_You _are the famous detective, figure it out yourself."

"You're a detective, too!"

"Not famous."

"Yet."

"Seriously, if you are leaning into a second grader to solve your problems, there definitely is something wrong with you," there was no response beside a mumbled protest, so Conan took the cue to keep talking. "Look, I'm sorting your and Dad's fan mail, which should be your task. So, do your _freaking _job and figure it out _yourself."_

He had, after all, decided not to tell him about his birthday before Ran. She had been so happy last week, after she had decided to buy him a red polo shirt and planned to surprise him.

"_Every year, Shinichi forgets his own birthday," _she had explained at his father. "_I'm only reminding him once a year. Otherwise, he's getting older for nothing."_

The only thing he had his doubts about was that she was planning to take him to see _The Legend of the Red Thread, _which sounded an awfully lot like the romance soaps she enjoyed to watch. At first, he felt bad for his brother. But then he would remember the lies and his extremely long absence, and figured it served him right.

"... Aren't you a bit touchy today?"

"Probably. Nauseous, too," he groaned, as he opened another letter and cringed. "I swear, if I read another letter that goes like '_Shinichi-sama, please bear my children'... _I think I will throw up."

"Did you... Did read my mail?"

"About a dozen of them are addressed to '_Kudo-sama'_. If I don't read them, it will be impossible to send Dad's back to him," he replied, as if it was the most obvious fact in the entire world. "It's not like you are going to read them anytime soon, anyway."

"Hey..."

"In my defense, that's true, and... Eh?" the child's gaze fell on a particular letter. "Moriya Teiji? You have a letter from him."

"Eh? _That _Moriya Teiji?"

"Let me see," he broke the seal and opened it to read. "He invited you to a tea party at his house. On April 29th, at 3:30 PM. There's a map in here, I can send you a photo of it, if you want."

"Say, Conan, does it say that guests are welcomed?"

"Yeah."

"Then, go for me, could you?" Conan certainly didn't expect that. "You, Ran and her father can take my place. I'm caught in this big investigation, so I can't go."

The child's eyes narrowed at the word 'investigation'. _You mean hiding._

"What big investigation is this, anyway?" he chirped, with an innocent touch on his voice. "You have been away for months, so I'm curious."

"N-No, it's not that big, actually," there was a forced laugh, letting Conan know that he had just pressured his brother into lying again. "It's just that I had multiple cases, coming one after another. I barely have any time to sleep!"

"Oh? Sounds like a dangerous place. Where are you?"

"Look, I have to go now. The police just arrived and I have to work to do. See you."

"Wait-"

Just like that, he hung up. _Really, _Conan just stared at his phone, frowning at the device in his hands as if it was the cause of all his problems. _Even if I didn't already know what is going on, I would still find this behavior extremely suspicious._

_For Kudo Yukiko's firstborn son, his acting skills are quite bad._

* * *

The party hadn't been so bad. While it had appeared to be a bit boring at first, at some point the day Moriya presented them with a very entertaining quiz, which Conan solved it effortlessly, before anyone else.

Everyone had praised him for his intelligence at such a young age so he had blushed a bit, unused to the attention. He had been able to hear Kogoro's groan of frustration, and that alone made his visit worth it.

As a reward, he had allowed to take a look to his special gallery, alongside Ran.

Throughout it all, there was something he was absolutely sure of. This guy had an uncanny obsession with symmetry.

"By the way, Ran-san, are you and Kudo-kun close?" Moriya asked her, curiously.

"Well, we're childhood friends and we attend the same high school..."

"Basically a married couple that doesn't realize they are together."

"Hey, Conan-kun, that's not it!"

Conan shrugged and directed his attention back to the gallery, barely paying attention as Ran told him all about his plan for Shinichi's birthday, and even commented that red was their lucky colour. _And she still denies having feelings for him, _he sighed, tiredly. _I think I'm surrounded by clueless lovey-dovey creatures ._

May 3rd arrived at the blink of an eye. Conan just stood there, close to the window, watching with a saddened expression as Ran left the house. Unlike him, she was smiling radiantly.

"_Ran-neechan," _Conan had stopped her at the door before she left. She had stared at him, cluelessly, as he handed her what it seemed to be a gift, neatly wrapped in silver paper. "_Could you give this to Shinichi-niichan for me?"_

"_Sure, but are you sure you don't want to give it to him by yourself?" _Ran had asked, when a smile appeared on her face. "_I know. Why don't you come with us? I don't mind and I don't think Shinichi does either."_

Conan had shook his head and told her to have fun, before returning to his room.

He was absolutely sure Shinichi wasn't going to make an appearance in such a crowded cinema in the middle of Beika, yet he didn't have the heart to tell her that.

Deep down, she might have already known.

It didn't make him feel any better at all.

* * *

"On the day before yesterday, a large quantity of explosives including Octogen was stolen from Toyo Chemical company's warehouse," the announcer on Agasa's TV informed, catching the young boy's eye. "The police have mobilized over a hundred officers to investigate, but so far there have been no leads."

It was followed by another report, this time about a fire at the Kurokawa State.

"That's the house where that murder case took place," Agasa noted. "There have been quite a few fires lately..."

He clearly remembered the murder case that had happened there a week ago. Kurokawa, who had been killed by the maid while she seeked revenge for his boyfriend, had left a message that read _JUN _on his computer_, _and it only took Conan to pretend to mess with the computer by pressing the bloody keys, including the English caps lock key ─ which he correctly guessed that had been hit by accident. The faces the people in the room made when they read _Masami _in the screen had been priceless.

The child didn't look away from the screen, even if the phone started to ring, letting the old professor pick it up instead. He did pay attention to him, however, at the sight of his uneasy expression.

"He's asking for Shinichi," covering up the speaker with one hand, he explained, and Conan just stared blankly, as if saying _and what do I have to do with it? _"He sounds strange. Like he's using a voice masking device."

Conan's eyes opened slightly wider at those words, understanding the meaning behind them. When someone tried to fake his voice to speak over the phone, it usually meant bad news.

_Sorry about this, Onii-chan._

He nodded and turned the dial on his bowtie.

"Is this Kudo Shinichi?" the man behind the phone asked.

"Yes," he replied using his brother's voice.

"You've seen the news, right? I'm the one who stole the explosives from Toyo Chemical," the child had been expecting a lot of things, but _this _was definitely not one of them. "I'd like to know your mobile phone number."

Against his wishes, the young boy gave him his own number. If worse came to worse, he didn't want to lose contact with this person, who definitely was some sort of terrorist. He was then told to go to the park, unless he wanted a group of children to die.

It had been terrifying to find out that those children were none other than his three friends. Luckily, however, he managed to kick the damned thing far away from their position before it exploded.

An orange explosion. _Plastic explosives,_ his mind quickly supplied.

His phone rang again and he picked up.

"What happened to Kudo?" the man spoke, before he could even speak. His hands froze around his bowtie. "I see, he figures sending me a kid like you is enough to deal with me, doesn't he?"

Conan frowned, and just listened at the criminal as his eyes darted across the place, restlessly. This guy was watching from somewhere else and he had absolutely no idea of where.

He told him there was another bomb set to explode in fifteen minutes so he decided to pull his innocent little kid act to get more information. He did get it was under a tree and that someone could walk away with it, but that was all.

The child jumped into his skateboard, ignoring his friends' shouts and left as quickly as he had arrived.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, he was riding a borrowed bike across the street, the bomb placed on his basket. Time was running out, after stopping momentarily at sixteen seconds, so he didn't have any other choice other than letting it explode in a less populated area.

After choosing the river, he rode straight to it. He jumped out just in time to see bright orange flames and the blast wave caused the child to get blown away.

He painfully hit his head against a tree and blacked out.

Conan realized he _might have _overdid it a little when he woke up in a hospital bed to the sight of Agasa and his friends' smile of relief. They had practically beamed the moment his eyes opened and began fussing over him.

"Conan!" unlike the others, Kogoro was definitely _not _happy. "What the hell is going on?!"

"I have a headache, that's what is going on," Conan replied, not fazed at all about his outburst. "Will probably turn into a migraine, if you keep screaming like an angry monkey that just got his bananas stolen."

"You brat-!"

"Now, now," Agasa had to physically restrain the man so he wouldn't go and hit the injured child, before telling Mitsuhiko to go look for a doctor. "Calm down."

"Child murder is a very serious crime," Conan teased him further. "Such an ugly stain on your record wouldn't do good to your detective career, right, Occhan?"

"Hey, Conan-kun," Ayumi whispered in her ear. "Maybe it would be best if you stopped provoking him..."

Conan shrugged at that, far too amused at the sight of a pissed off Kogoro being held by his arms by Agasa and childishly stuck his tongue at him because, hey, having the opportunity to mess with him without risking a cracked skull was rare.

Eventually he managed to, at least, calm down enough for the doctor to check the child over, and thanked the doctor when he had said he could be discharged the next day.

Not a second after the doctor left, Inspector Megure and Inspector Shiratori and bursted inside, and Conan was forced to tell them everything that happened ─ conveniently 'forgetting' to tell them he had actually pretended to be Shinichi.

"Why did you do such a dangerous thing?" Kogoro spoke up once he had finished his story, pressing his index finger against Conan's chest. "You could have died!"

"Ah? Worried-?"

"I am serious, Conan," the serious tone the man had truly made the kid shut his mouth up and stare at him. "Look, I don't care if your parents usually let you run wild, but you are currently living in _my _house. So, for now on, you are grounded."

Conan just blinked at him, in shock. He had never been actually been grounded before, so it was a brand new concept to him.

"Understood?" the man pressed when he didn't say a word.

"I understand," finally accepting the boundaries he was being given, the boy's gaze dropped to his sheets and nodded. "Sorry."

"But what is that stupid detective freak doing?" Kogoro wondered. "Why didn't the culprit contact him?"

"Shinichi-niichan had something else to do," Conan lied quickly, before Agasa could say anything. "So he asked me for help."

"What a guy!" the man growled, his fist clenched as if he was ready to hit Shinichi. "Next time I see him, I'll give it to him!"

Honestly, Conan didn't know if it was so mad because what had just happened or because Ran had invited him to the movies all night.

Agasa smiled awkwardly at Conan, and he did the same. _Sorry about that, Onii-chan, _he apologized, again, inside his mind. _Try not to show your face around for a while, okay?_

Conan was most grateful when all the adults' attention drifted away from him and started to wonder why the bomber could have been interested in Shinichi in the first place. They came into the conclusion that it was was either to compete against him, or that they had a grudge against him.

"At any rate," Inspector Megure spoke. "The police are now searching for the person fitting the description these children have given us."

The three children just smiled, big enough to threaten to split their faces in half, as their chests puffed out in pride. Still grinning, Genta pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Conan, this is the picture," he said, handing his friend the drawing. "It really looks like him!"

Conan was speechless, but for another reason altogether.

"It's drawn very well," Mitsuhiko nodded to himself.

"We all worked on it," Ayumi smiled wider, if possible.

"Say, guys..." Conan tried _hard _not to raise his eyebrow. "Did you... Did you draw this?"

"No," the girl replied, with big innocent eyes. "A kind police officer drew it while she asked us questions."

"She seemed to be pretty frustrated when she finished it, though," the kid with freckles pointed out.

"Maybe she's a perfectionist..." the bigger one suggested.

Conan could not help but sweatdrop as he looked at the picture. Now, he was nowhere close to an artist himself ─ his drawing skills were _bad, _at least ─ but that didn't mean he didn't know how a facial composite was supposed to look like.

_Looks like somebody is going to get scolded today._

There was something he could tell, though. The culprit was so obviously disguised.

"Inspector," Agasa spoke. "Of all the cases that Shinichi-kun has solved, which one attracted the most attention?"

"Hmm..." Megure thought about it for a moment. "That would have to be the case involving Mayor Okamoto of Nishitama City."

The child actually remembered that one, since it hadn't been a year since it happened. He hadn't been there, but it was as if he had because Shinichi had taken his time to explain _every single detail _of the case he was so proud of.

And Conan hadn't let his brother know at the time, but it had secretly enjoyed hearing all off them.

"Because of this incident, the mayor was removed from the office. His plan to revitalize the City of Nishitama was put back on the drawing board."

Silently, Conan listened as the inspector asked his friends if they remembered something else and Ayumi said she recalled the man's smell. It was very sweet. The boy wondered what that meant.

Since he was feeling better, the three kids decided it would be best if they headed back home for the day, before it got late. Before he knew it, the girl's hands were on his and there was a very serious expression on her face.

"If there's a problem, I'll come back right away!"

_Please, don't. _

"Tch, must be nice," Genta scowled.

"We should try being put in the hospital too," Mitsuhiko said.

_Don't try too hard._

"You've become very popular," Kogoro smirked, teasingly. "Quite the lady-killer."

_If it's killing what we are talking about, I think I will be the one getting killed by the end of the day._

Finally his group of friends left, and Conan was left alone with the adults. Now that the room was much quieter, the child leaned back on his bed, sighing loudly.

When his phone rang, suddenly, and everyone froze in place at that. Conan stretched his hand to pick it up, when Kogoro stopped him.

"If it's the culprit, pass it to me."

Conan nodded and pressed the phone against his ear.

"Good job finding the bomb, I take my hat off to you," upon hearing the too familiar artificial voice, he handed it to the older detective. Mouri placed it on top of the mattress after putting it on speaker. "But the children's turn is over. Bring out Kudo!"

"That's right," Kogoro spoke. "Now it's grown-ups' turn."

"Who the hell are you?! Where's Kudo?!"

"Kudo is not here. I'm your opponent now, the Great Detective, Mouri Kogoro."

_Now, now. 'Great Detective' is a bit of a stretch._

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that the criminal had placed five more bombs, this time along the Touto Circular Railway. He said that they would explode if the train's speed dropped below sixty kilometers per hour or if the night fell.

To say that Conan was distressed about the turn of events was an understanding. Not a minute after the criminal had hung up, he found himself grasping, tightly, his detective badge, ignoring the rest of the adults that just ran around, discussing what to do and giving instructions over the phone to others.

_Please, guys..._

"Conan-kun?" came Ayumi's concerned reply. "Is something wrong?"

"Yoshida-san, where are you now?"

"Eh? We just got in the train," Conan's blood ran cold at that. "What's going on? You're scaring me."

"Hey, the train is going faster and faster," he heard Genta pointing out.

"Don't tell me, Conan-kun," there was a bit of panic on Mitsuhiko's voice. "Has someone planted something beginning with a 'B' on this train?"

There was a pause.

"Calm down. If you panic you'll only make it worse," he would have lied, but he was certain they would've seen through it right away. "But yes, the bomber put bombs on the Circular Railway."

He heard the three kids gasping at the revelation but said nothing about that. Conan just stayed there, clutching the badge even tighter, as his mind ran.

What was he going to do now?

"How much time do we have until it explodes?"

He blinked twice at the device in his fingers, surprised by the unusually serious approach. They really were taking this better than he had expected.

"Until nightfall," he replied after a pause.

After all, instructions to keep the speed above sixty kilometers per hour had already been given, so exploding because of that was out of the picture.

"Conan-kun..." he could hear Ayumi's voice crack, as if she was about to cry. "Does that mean we're all going to die?"

"Don't you dare to think about it, not even for a second," he said instantly, a frown carved into his face. "I will get you out of here. I promise."

"There you go again," to his surprise, Genta huffed.

"Eh?"

"You always do the same thing, Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko was frowning on the other side. "Trying to solve every single problem by yourself."

"We are part of the Detective Boys as well!" Ayumi protested. "Don't underestimate us!"

Conan was stunned at that, and was about to yell them to drop it. To just keep quiet until the police knew where the bomb was and they were out of any possible danger.

Then he realized it. If he was on their place, would Conan just stand aside and do nothing?

"I understand," he said finally, sighing loudly. "Try to look for something suspicious, that could possibly fit a bomb. And when you do, do _not _shake it. It might be sensitive to movement."

"Alright," Mitsuhiko replied, with a serious tone on his voice.

"And please... Please, don't do anything stupid."

Genta scoffed. "We're not stupid."

"There's a big difference between _acting _stupid and _being _stupid," he retorted, tonelessly. "In Kojima's case, however, I have my doubts."

Genta complained, as loudly as Mitsuhiko's laughter. There was a muffled thud and Conan cringed, knowing that it meant the freckled boy getting hit, as usual. Ayumi was admonishing the bigger boy for being violent. They hung up not long after that.

Conan smiled sadly, a bit stunned at their ability to put a good face even in the worst of situations. Maybe it was naivety, maybe it was their naturally positivity. He didn't quite know.

_Please, don't die. You must definitely not die, guys!_

Another ringing sound pushed the boy out of his thoughts and every single soul stared at Kogoro, who still held Conan's phone.

Before the child could do anything about it, Kogoro picked up, with a deadly serious expression on his face.

"Conan?! Where are you?!" the familiar voice on the other side did not comfort Kogoro in the sightless. Rather, it caused him to burn with fury. "What did you think you were doing?!"

"Like you are the one to speak," Kogoro replied, furious. The other person certainly didn't expect the grown up voice to reply, if the sharp intake of air he heard was something to go by. "How much of a bastard can you be to let a _child _manage a bomb threat?"

"I did... what exactly?"

Kogoro noticed the way Conan flinched and the genuine confusion in Shinichi's voice. "Conan..." he breathed out, dangerously.

Conan just gulped silently, before jumping on the bed to snatch his phone and hurry outside the room, forcing himself to ignore Kogoro yelling his name, angrily, as he left.

_I should prepare myself for a month-long grounding..._

"What do you want?" he spatted, once he stepped into the lobby.

"For starters, you to tell me what's going on," it seemed like Conan wasn't the only one annoyed at this situation. "You're at the hospital, aren't you?"

Conan hesitated a bit, glancing at the phone with a weird look. "How did you know?" he asked, gazing around the room for any suspicious characters ─ or even hidden cameras, at this point he couldn't be sure.

"I saw it on TV," the teen replied. "They didn't say your name, but you are the only highly hypocritical grade schooler I know that would ride a stolen bike through the traffic while carrying a bomb, yet would constantly bug his brother about the dangers of holding in a sneeze."

The boy paused, as if thinking it over.

"I'm pretty sure they didn't say all that on TV."

"I'm still waiting for an answer."

"I usurped your identity in order to talk to a criminal."

"Alright then... Wait, what?!"

Conan sighed, heavily. "Look, it's not that important right now," he ignored his brother's yell of '_damn right it is_' and continued. "There's... There's much more on stake right now."

Shinichi quietened down. "What happened?"

"Yoshida-san and the others..." while he tried to keep his voice even, his brother noticed the way it quivered, slightly. "They are in danger."

The way even Conan was panicking a little bit told Shinichi there were in _big _trouble.

"Conan, tell me everything that happened. From the beginning."

* * *

"Hey, what the hell are you doing, brat?!"

Mitsuhiko winced the moment the loud voice broke through the commotion ─ people had been complaining about the train passing by their stop before that yell ─ and slowly turned around to see a man standing right behind him. There was a scary look on his eyes and Mitsuhiko could only stare back at him, frozen.

His hands were still on the suitcase he had tried to check while its owner had been busy arguing with the personal of the train. The boy had guessed it _could _fit a bomb and therefore worth checking.

The man was angry, painfully pulling him up by the hood of his shirt.

His deduction proved to be incorrect given the fact that they were still alive, even if the suitcase had slipped from his hands and fell into the floor with an audible thud.

It didn't bring him any comfort though, since the man seemed to be more than ready to hit him.

"Let him go!" Genta protested, willing to beat the man twice his size up. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"This brat wanted to steal from me!"

"He didn't!" suddenly, all gazes where on Ayumi, the little girl who had just screamed. "We were checking for bombs!"

For a moment nobody said anything, until laughed erupted in the entire train. The girl deflated, a bright red blush blossoming on her cheeks and the boy next to her seemed to get even angrier.

Mitsuhiko, however, was sweating heavily, hoping against hope that he wouldn't get into any further trouble.

"Let that child go," the bathroom's door slid open and a teen walked out. A baseball hat shadowed his face and covered his hair, making it impossible to determine his identity. "Those kids are right."

The three children looked at him, stunned, while the other passengers started to look at each other, nervously.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright if we cooperate and stay calm," he reassured them, then stepped closer to the man. His hand wrapped around the wrist that was holding Mitsuhiko. "But if you do _anything_ to this boy, I'll personally make sure you're sent to jail for this public display of violence to a minor," his grip tightened, causing the man to bit back a cry of pain. "Do you understand?"

Mitsuhiko was unceremoniously dropped into the ground and his two friends instantly rushed over to him, to make sure he was okay.

Everyone else was quiet, silenced by shock.

"Now that's settled down, we should check everyone's belongings," he turned to the three children who just stared back at him, dumbfounded, barely noticing that his voice was suddenly friendlier. "Will you help me, kids?"

"No."

The teen paused, clearly stunned. Okay. He certainly didn't expect such an answer from this seemingly sweet, young girl.

"But Ayumi-chan," Mitsuhiko tried to reason. "This person just helped us out"

"Conan-kun told us to be careful," more like _not doing anything stupid, _but close enough. "Isn't trusting in complete strangers dangerous?"

The teenager looked at her for a moment, then laughed a bit. Ayumi's mouth formed a childish pout, not quite understanding what could be so funny in such a dire situation.

He kneeled down right in front of her, angling his face so she could see the face behind the shadows. A finger was on his lips, pleading her to keep quiet.

When she saw his face, Ayumi had to rub her eyes and look again.

_Shinichi-oniisan?!_

* * *

A/N:

Lieutenant Myst: Don't worry, summer will be here before you know it... Or maybe I'm just trying to convince myself lol.

Dy: I didn't really think it could be interpreted that way lol! But sadly, no, Conan wasn't shrunk and is an actual child. And about your question, I can't really tell you anything else without spoiling. But yeah, they will definitely meet.

SapphireRuby24: I haven't really thought about how Shinichi and Heiji meet, but they definitely are going to somewhere in the future ─ not a distant future, I hope. And about your other question, I don't know if having another character mistaking him for Shinichi will be pushing it a bit, but it might happen. I haven't decided yet lol.

Akuma-Heika: You know, I can't really answers these questions lol! Sorry.


	18. I'm Sorry, Conan

**File Eighteen: I'm Sorry, Conan**

"What?!" Genta screamed. "You're saying that guy is-?!"

After checking every single place on the train with the help of the children, the detective's eyes had opened, widely, and then hurried off to the bathroom. At first, Genta had thought he had eaten something bad, until the girl had quietly broken the news to him.

"Shh!" Ayumi hurried to cover Genta's mouth. "Don't be too loud, Genta-kun!" then she continued, in a whisper. "Shinichi-oniisan asked me to keep it a secret."

"So Conan-kun _was _right," Mitsuhiko crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Shinichi-san is definitely hiding from someone else."

They didn't say anything else, as the detective walked out the bathroom. Mitsuhiko noted the way he placed his phone back into his pocket and realized he might had done that so he could call somebody in a quieter place ─ there was a big ruckus outside, after all.

He clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention, and it worked instantly. It was impressive how easily he could get people to listen to him while keeping his identity in secret.

"Everyone, please hold yourselves tightly," he said. "This will be rough."

The three kids didn't have the time to say anything as Shinichi ushered them to a nearby seat, and told them to embrace each other, tightly. "Don't let go, okay?"

"But why?!" Genta complained, loudly. "I thought we had time until sunset!"

"The train's hasn't broken either, right?" Mitsuhiko added.

Shinichi positioned himself in front of the children. "Of course not," he held into the railhand and smirked the same way the children had seen Conan do, plenty of times, when he discovered something. "We're going to move away from the bomb."

Right after he said that the train took a sharp turn as it changed its course. Little by little, the speed started decreasing.

The three children looked at each other, fear on their faces, before closing their eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

Which never came. They blinked owlishly when they felt the train finally coming to a stop, so they confused eyes flickered towards the window, to see that they were in the station, and gasped.

Shinichi laughed, good-heartedly, as he stepped away from them.

"It was you, Shinichi-san," Mitsuhiko accused, without any real anger, as they got off the train. "You figured were the bombs where and called the police."

"Eh?" Ayumi gasped. "Where were they? We searched all over the train and there wasn't anything!"

"Maybe it wasn't on the carriage," the freckled boy thought out loud. "It must have been under the train."

Shinchi chuckled. "Wrong," he told them. "The answer is 'between the rails'."

"Huh?" Genta was confused. "How did you know?"

"I realized when I thought over the second condition. That it would blow off without sunlight," he explained. "Guess that happens when the train passes over the light sensor for a long time."

The three kids awed, amazed by his deduction abilities, and decided that this guy was _definitely _Conan's older brother, without any doubt.

At the thought of her other friend, Ayumi took out her badge, earning curious looks from the rest. "I'm going to call Conan-kun and tell him we're all okay," she clarified.

"That's a good idea," Mitsuhiko nodded. "He sounded quite worried before."

"Ah," they all looked at Shinichi, who had a strangely uncomfortable expression on his face. He put his hands together, as if pleading, and asked. "Could you guys please not tell him I am with you?"

The kids just stared at him, silently, before nodding at each other.

As soon as the girl had reassured his friend and told him they were all okay, they heard a sigh of relief.

"I see. That's great!" he breathed out. "I'm sorry I wasn't of any help."

"Don't worry," Genta paused, and the three shared a mischievous grin before he continued. "Because Shinichi-niichan figured out where the bombs were right away!"

Conan took a sharp breath and Shinichi paled considerably.

"What?! Is Shinichi-niichan-?!

The voice stopped abruptly, and the badge was stolen from her hands. They all looked at the panicked older boy with matching sweet smiles.

Yet Shinichi knew appearances could be deceiving. Hell, he had freaking _Conan _for a brother.

"I thought we had a deal," he sighed, feeling very exhausted all of sudden.

"We didn't agree on anything, Shinichi-san," Mitsuhiko told him, and the other two nodded.

His eyebrow twitched. _Is Conan's behaviour contagious or what?_

"Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Conan," Genta pointed out, crossing his arms in front of his chest while frowning a little. "Not after everything you've been putting him through."

"Everything I've been putting him through?" Shinichi was genuinely confused.

"Even if he tries to hide it, it's obvious that Conan-kun is very worried about you," Ayumi had a determined, and a bit angry, look on her eyes. "So you better apologize to him next time you see him!"

Looking at the group of children that were frowning at him, Shinichi decided he would never mess with Conan. Not only the kid was disturbingly scary when he wanted to, but he now had a group of very loyal and overprotective friends watching his back.

* * *

Conan leaned into the seat of the car and looked through the window, absentmindedly watching the buildings passing by them. After he had learned that one of the bombs from the Circular Railway had been placed on top of the bridge of the Sumida Canal ─ which he clearly remembered it featured on Moriya's gallery ─ he had suggested that the arsonist was targeting Moriya Teiji's designs.

There he was now, on his way to the mansion. He was lucky Kogoro couldn't remember how to get there or he wouldn't be there now.

His fingers played with the detective badge. It had been a few hours since Ayumi's call, yet he still couldn't get it out of his head. As soon as the girl had mentioned his brother being there, they had hung up, so it wasn't hard to imagine Shinichi snatching the badge from her hands to end the call. But why would he be so desperate? Why hadn't he wanted Conan to know he was on the train?

_Why was he there, anyway?_

He had said he had learned about the other bomb on the news and had correctly deduced that Conan was the child that got injured by trying to save the people living nearby. Maybe Shinichi had come to solve the case because his brother was involved.

A certain, familiar lamp brought him off his thoughts. _A children's park, _he noticed. _Come to think of it, isn't that the place where the bomb's timer stopped?_

They arrived at their destination not long thereafter. While sitting across the man, for a moment, Conan watched Moriya lighting up his pipe with a long match before standing up, curiously looking around the room. His eyes fell on an old framed photo of a family. A boy was smiling while holding a woman's hand, standing close to a man.

"That is a photograph from when I was ten years old," Moriya commented when he noticed the child staring. "My mother and father are in the picture with me."

"Oh?" Conan then looked at the architect. "Now that I think about it, your father was pretty famous as well, right?"

"He was a world-famous architect, particularly renowned in England. I really liked his architecture..." Shiratori explained to him, then paused, and looked at Moriya. "He passed away, if I remember correctly."

"Fifteen years ago, in a fire at his holiday villa, together with my mother. It was at that time I inherited this mansion."

"It was around about that time that your designs started coming into the limelight, wasn't it, Moriya-san?"

Conan noticed Kogoro giving a suspicious look towards Shiratori's way. The older detective's eyes narrowed and the child couldn't help but sigh tiredly. _There he goes again. Coming into another stupid conclusion._

"Eh? Well, I suppose so."

The viciously sweet smell of the pipe hit Conan's nostrils, almost causing him to cough as a reaction to it. Then, his eyes opened in realization.

Quietly slipping out the room, the child gave the famous architect a last look before running through the halls. Ayumi had said there was a strangely sweet scent when the criminal got closer, yet could it be that just a coincidence? His brain said yes, most of the time it would be just a coincidence.

But he had the feeling it couldn't just be it.

Conan closed the door behind his back and walked closer to the gallery. His eyes fell on the bridge, then on Moriya's other creations which had been bombed. _Something must be different in these, _he frowned. _But what is it...?_

Upon closer inspection, he noticed something amiss. His mouth hang open as he realized.

"These buildings..." he mumbled to himself.

"They are not entirely symmetrical."

His heart skipped a bit as he spun around, startled by the voice. There stood a teenager, wearing a hat, smirking at him as he leaned over a table, which was covered with a black sheet. Once the initial shock had died down, Conan's eyebrow twitched.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Or, more importantly, _how _did you get in here?"

"Well," he let out an awkward laugh. "I kind of snuck through a window."

Conan blinked, annoyment now all gone and replaced with confusion. "You did what?" the boy stared at his older brother as if he had grown a second head. "_You, _the Great Detective of the East. _You, _the one that seeks the truth and helps justice do its job. _You, _of all people, _illegally _broke into Moriya Teiji's property_?_"

Shinichi flinched. "When you put it like that it sounds pretty bad."

Ignoring his brother's comment, Conan rushed to the window and looked down. There were guards all around the building, which proved that the security was pretty tough. "How did you pass through?"

"... I know a few tricks."

"Tricks?"

"Somebody taught me how to, okay?"

"... Who was-?" then, he sighed. "Actually, nevermind. I don't think I want to know."

"Your wish," Shinichi shrugged. "So, Conan, tell me. Do you know who the criminal is?"

Conan turned serious again and strolled back towards the photographs. He gave them a long, pensive look before sighing loudly.

"The arsonist is Moriya Teiji himself."

There was no room for doubt in his statement, and that amused Shinichi a little. "Wow. That's quite a big claim to make," he commented. "So, what is your proof?"

The boy, in turn, shook his head. "I have no proof yet, but I'm certain it's him," his eyes sharpened. "The bridge and the apartments that were targeted are strangely asymmetrical, which is weird considering his obsession with it. There's also the sweet scent Yoshida-san said she smelled, that could be from his pipe. And..."

Conan hesitated, looking at the floor while frowning.

"... And I have a strong feeling that it's him," he said in a whisper, almost if he was embarrassed to say it louder. "I know it's quite illogical, but..."

His voice died down and his eyes didn't look up to see Shinichi, not even once. The older brother stared at the younger, with thoughtful eyes, before he let of a soft chuckle. Before he could ask what was so funny, Conan felt a hand resting on the top of his head.

He looked up, taken aback.

"Having a good intuition is essential to be a detective," he ruffled the kid's dark locks, much to his annoyment. "So don't be embarrassed by it. You did a terrific job already, little Holmes."

Shinichi noticed the way Conan scratched the back of his head and looked away, clearly embarrassed. He hadn't denied being a young detective, which he had usually did, and that had taken him a bit by surprise.

"There's something I still can't understand," the kid said after a moment, his hand raising to his chin as he thought. "What's the true reason behind challenging you? I don't think it is only to cover up."

"The reason..." he turned to the table. "... it's right here."

With that, he pulled the sheet. Conan's eyes opened at the sight of what was hiding under it and stood on the tip of his feet. Shinichi noticed his lack of height and raised his brother in the air, so he could see better.

Any other moment he would have protested, loudly so, but he was far too concentrated in what stood in front of his eyes to pay attention to it. In front of him was a city mockup, and a golden plate that read:

_My vision of a new town ─ City of Nishitama_

The lampost he had seen on the children's park was there, and suddenly everything was beginning to make so much sense.

"It's a perfectly symmetrical new town," Conan realized. "So, all of this happened because you sent the ex-mayor to jail?"

"You made it sound like it is my fault all this happened."

"Not really," shrugging, he spoke as he was put down. "I guess it's not really your fault if the mayor made a deal with a complete sicko."

"Fair enough."

With that, Shinichi walked past the child and opened the door. Conan watched, with curiosity, as his brother peered from the doorway, looked both sides, before stepping into the hallway.

"Where are you going?" asked the child as he followed close.

"I'm looking for proof," he opened the door to Moriya's study, and sighed. "Now, if you were to hide a very incriminating disguise, where would you do it?"

Conan guessed he was referring to the disguise he used when meeting with Ayumi and the others. He thought about it for a moment, before his eyes fell on a set of armor in the corner of the room.

His brother watched, cluelessly, as the child dragged a chair close to the armor and hopped on top of it.

"I have no idea," his hand played with the decorative hair on the helmet. "But Moriya-san might know."

Shinichi noticed the smirk on his brother's face and he couldn't help but wonder.

"Say, Onii-chan," the little boy looked at him. "How good are you at handicrafting?"

The teenager blinked in reply. "What are you going to do?"

"A small art project," Conan replied, then extended his hand to him. "Pass me the scissors."

Shinichi noticed the scissors laying on the desk, right next to him, and hesitated for a moment. He glanced back to Conan, who wasn't even looking at him, and sighed. "Here," he passed them to him. "What-?"

He heard a snip and the next second Conan was climbing down the chair with the decorative hair on his fist.

"That should count as serious property damage," Shinichi facepalmed.

The kid gave him an _'are you kidding me?' _look while putting the chair back on its place, behind the desk. "So is burglary," Shinichi couldn't really argue against that. "Now, sit there and be very still."

The teenager complied, after watching with uttermost confusion as the child climbed the desk, using the same chair he was supposed to sit on. Then, he grabbed the tape.

Shinichi figured he should've expected it when he started to stuck the hair together, using his head as a base.

"I remember the facial composite Yoshida-san and the others showed me," noticing the detective's puzzled face, he explained. "And I think I can more or less replicate it."

"Isn't this forging evidence?"

"We're just going to trick him into telling us where he hid his true disguise. Now, stop asking questions and _stop talking._ You move a lot when you do that."

"Yes, yes. I don't really want to be a murder victim."

"What did I just tell you?"

The older boy said nothing, just stared ahead as he let his younger brother do his work.

There was a look of utter concentration as he put more tape on the strands of fake hair, and suddenly he was remembered of the times he played with his old paints, when this child was a toddler. A thirteen year-old Shinichi would watch his brother splatter paint all over the cushions, walls, and curtains as he tried to draw on his paper, but still act as if he was a refined artist creating a wonderful piece of art.

Shinichi frowned. It hadn't been actually that long ago, yet it really seemed like it had. Now he wondered when was the last time he had seen the little boy do something like that.

_Speaking of which, did he ever have to do any art project or something? _

Shinichi recalled, after all, having to do a lot of those when he was in first grade, and Conan was already in his second year at elementary school. It kind of made him feel a little bad. Even before leaving Beika, he didn't remember seeing him doing anything of that stuff.

He hadn't spent much time home, he realized.

And he hadn't realized it until now, but there was much about the young boy he knew nothing about.

"_Even if he tries to hide it, it's obvious that Conan-kun is very worried about you."_

What Ayumi had told him had really taken him by surprise. Now, he knew Conan cared about him ─ even if they hadn't been so close lately, they were still brothers ─ but he hadn't put much thought on how all of this truly affected him. Even his friends ─ a group of seven year-olds ─ had taken notice before Shinichi himself ─ a _detective_, for crying out loud ─ did.

Suddenly the high school detective felt Conan's hands stopping. He was only staring at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Could you stop staring into my soul like that?" he spoke. "It's rather creepy."

"A-Ah, sorry," he hadn't really noticed he was staring.

Conan sighed, then removed his glasses and gave them to him. "There should be a black water-based marker somewhere in the drawer."

Shinichi nodded, understanding what was he trying to do. "You know, Conan, there's something I have been wondering about."

"Huh?"

"As you already know, I met your friends recently," he commented. "They seem to be really fond of you."

Conan nodded, not clearly understanding where he was trying to get to. "Your point is?"

"Why are you still on family-name basis?" the boy paused at that. "For example, just now, you referred to Ayumi-chan as Yoshida-san, yet she still calls you Conan-kun. Isn't that weird?"

The child returned to his work right away. "You are rather hypocritical sometimes," he commented, confusing Shinichi a little. "Ran-neechan told me you used to be so adamant in calling her 'Mouri-san' and having her call you 'Kudo-kun'."

"... I-It's different," he tried to argue as he looked over the desk to find a marker.

"How so?"

"You see, I..." the teen trailed off when he noticed something standing in the corner of the desk and held it on his hands. "... This lighter is kind of weird..."

"A lighter? But Moriya-san used a long match to light his pipe a few moments ago..."

Both brothers looked at each other, blinking twice, when realization dawned on them with a gasp. Shinichi fumbled with the object until he eventually managed to open the cover and take the damned batteries off.

Once out, the two sighed in synchrony.

_So lucky... _

* * *

"I see," Megure sighed. "You can't think of anything at all."

"I'm sorry not to have been of any use," Moriya replied, pretending to actually feel bad about being useless to the investigation.

"Well, if you think of anything, please contact me," standing up, the inspector looked around for something that was missing. "Where has Conan-kun gotten to?"

"Here!" a childish voice sounded all over the room.

On the doorway stood Conan, hands behind his back as he smiled back, cutely. That could've fooled anyone, but Kogoro knew from experience that he was up to no good. He was about to inquire where he had been all this time, until he noticed something far more important.

"Hey, brat, where are your glasses?!"

"They fell and I stepped on them," he replied, almost innocently. "But I have a more pairs back home, so don't worry!"

Kogoro gumbled something about '_annoyingly rich parents', 'spoiled brat' _and '_expensive glasses',_ but he ignored all it. He just walked up to Megure and offered him his phone, which he had been holding behind his back. "Shinichi-niichan is on the phone," he explained. "I told him everything, and he says he knows who the arsonist is."

Moriya felt a chill running down his back. Just now he could've sworn that, for a slight moment, the little boy's eyes fell on him, a knowing smirk drawing on his features, before he returned to his young, innocent self.

"Kudo-kun did?!" the inspector hurriedly picked up the phone and pressed it against his ear. "Kudo-kun, is it true what Conan-kun said? ... I see... Everyone needs to assemble in the gallery."

After giving the phone back to its owner, Megure asked Moriya to guide them there, and he asked to stop by his study first. Conan had to hold his laugh as he watched him, from his spot on the doorway, cross the room and pick his golden lighter up.

It happened again, when the criminal found his city mockup, standing there in plain view.

His phone rang again, and he knew it was time. "Oh, Shinichi-niichan!" he chirped once he picked up. "We're in the gallery already."

"Your childish voice is giving me the creeps," Shinichi sighed.

"Okay!" he pretended not to hear that, then pressed something on his phone. "I used the hands-free button so everyone can hear. Just like you asked."

Everyone looked at him, expectantly.

"The fact is I've figured out the true nature of the arsonist and the bomber on this incident," the high school detective spoke.

"Wait a moment!" Kogoro stopped his deduction. "I have also figured it out. The culprit is-!"

"-definitely _not _Detective Shiratori," interrupted Conan, with a plain voice.

"... He's not...?" the man trailed off. "Hey, how did you know I was going to...?"

"You kept looking at him whenever he spoke about Moriya-san's father," he turned back to the phone. "But he isn't the culprit, right, Shinichi-niichan?"

"Not at all."

Mouri defleated at his words, and Shinichi took his cue to give out his deduction, taking everyone else in the room off guard. Conan just held the phone, silently listening to his brother, watching Moriya's face darkening as his crimes were explained.

"Isn't that so?" Shinichi finished.

"That's an interesting deduction, Kudo-kun," Moriya laughed. "Unfortunately, however, you have no evidence."

"Oh, there is. Right behind the model case."

Shiratori instantly went around it and found it. A brown wig and beard, along with black sunglasses. At the sight of it, Moriya paled.

"Impossible! They were in the safe in the study...!"

"Ah, so there is where they actually are!" Conan flipped his phone close as he went towards the fake disguise and picked up his glasses, wiping them with his napkin. "Thank you for giving us that information, Moriya-san!"

The criminal sweated, profusely, when he realized the mistake he had committed. Shiratori went to apprehend him, but he stepped back and pulled out his lighter.

"Nobody move!" he screamed. "I'll explode the bombs I have planted around the mansion."

"Oh, good luck with that," Conan picked something from his pocket and showed the batteries to him. "Because you seem to be missing these."

Moriya was finally handcuffed and to be arrested, but the man still found reason to laugh. Conan's froze in place when he told them that there was still one more building that he wanted to erase, and one look towards his gallery told him where it was.

_Beika City Building?! Then Ran-neechan...!_

He heard hurried footsteps on the hallway, and it didn't take much to realize it might be his brother running out the mansion. Conan paid no mind to that, just stared mouth wide open, at the arsonist before taking his phone out to call Ran.

"Conan-kun?" her voice filled his ears. "Did something-?"

"Ran-neechan! Go outside, right now!"

There was a loud bang on the other side, and suddenly Conan couldn't hear anything anymore. "Ran-neechan, are you okay?! Ran-neechan!" her father took the phone away from his grasp, desperately calling her name over and over, before throwing it back to him when there was no reply.

Kogoro angrily grabbed his shirt and shook him around, before he was held back by Megure and Shiratori. Then, Conan noticed a piece of paper sticking out his coat.

The next moment, he was jumping on him and taking it away from him. In his hands was a blueprint for the bombs.

"I'm sending this to Shinichi-niichan," Conan explained as he snapped a photo of it. "Knowing him, he must be already there."

"Wait, we're sending in the bomb disposal team!" Megure tried to reason.

Conan sent it anyway. If there was something he could be sure about his brother, is that he would do anything for his dearest childhood friend. Even if it meant risking his life.

"Hey, boy," Moriya spoke. "Tell Kudo this: 'I made three minutes especially for you. Enjoy them wisely'."

The little boy had absolutely no idea what that meant, but still gave him a last glare, before he left with Kogoro and Megure.

* * *

"Ran! Where are you, Ran?! RAN!"

It was heart wrenching to see Kogoro this distressed, but understandable, considering his daughter was in there. That building that currently was burning, flames dancing in front of their eyes.

A crowd had formed behind the firefighter's trucks, watching at the flames burning everything in sight. Panic was settling in, and Conan struggled to remain calm all in all.

His brother was inside. He was going to be okay. Ran was going to be okay.

Shinichi was surely going to figure out a way out, right?

_He has to._

Conan flipped open his phone, not paying attention to the car pulling beside him, or the fact that Shiratori and Moriya stepped out it. He looked to the last message he had sent his brother, where he told him about the three minutes for a moment and wondered what it meant.

He began to type.

"_How are things on your end? Are you okay?"_

A ping told him his brother had replied.

"_Ran is deactivating the bomb and I'm helping her. We have seventeen minutes until it explodes._

_But with the blueprints you sent me it should be more than enough. We're almost done"_

Conan glanced at his watch. _It will explode at three past midnight. That's oddly specific._

A loud explosion brought him out his thoughts and caused his heart to skip a beat. He sighed in relief at the realization that neither Ran nor Shinichi were in that zone.

Kogoro still panicked. Megure tried to get him to calm down.

"Don't worry," Moriya's voice was so calm that was terrifying. "You still have fifteen minutes until your daughter is blown up."

"You jerk! Tell me how to stop the bomb!"

"It's a special bomb. Even if someone could disarm it, the last wire will decide their fate," his lips curved into a evil smile. "It's the last one."

_The last wire?! Is there another one after the others in the blueprints?!_

Moriya was confident, sure that his plan would work even if Conan had stolen the blueprints from him. What was there to say for certain that Ran would fall right on his plan?

The clock hit midnight, signalizing the start of Shinichi's birthday. Three minutes left...

_What did he mean with those three extra minutes...? Could it be that he was telling him to enjoy his three minutes of his birthday?_

Then his eyes opened. How had he known about Shinichi's birthday?

There were two minutes left. Kogoro was in despair, Megure shouting orders to the bomb disposal team, and Conan was just staring at Moriya's sneer of victory. There should be something...

"_Well, I plan to get him something on Saturday," _Ran words rang on his head, from when she had been talking to Moriya a week before. "_Just like me, he likes the colour red, and for the month of May, red is the lucky colour for both of us."_

_... Oh, no._

* * *

Shinichi groaned on his spot close to the door. "Damn it!" he cursed. "Which? Which is it?!"

"Shinichi," her soft voice came from the other side, and he paused his panicked fit. "Happy birthday, Shinichi."

It took the boy by surprise, as he hadn't remembered it until now, and it made sense. The reason Ran wanted to see him today and that Conan had refused to tell him.

The boy paused, taking in everything that was happening and spoke.

"Cut it. The colour your like, just cut it."

"What if I'm wrong?"

"It doesn't matter," Shinichi smirked. "If time runs out, we're doomed."

Ran was speechless, gripping her scissors tightly on her shaking hands. There were less than two minutes left and the pressure was killing her.

"Don't worry, I'll stay right here until you cut it," he said, tenderly and comforting. "If we die, we die together."

At this moment, the detective truly wished he could say he didn't have any regrets, but he couldn't really. With sad eyes, he gazed towards his phone, the photo of the blueprint his little brother had sent him on the screen.

He hated to do this to him. To leave him alone in this big world all over again, and this time for real. But he would be okay. He had his parents and a group of wonderful friends to watch his back.

Conan was a brilliant kid that was sure to grow into a fine young man one day. He smiled softly.

_Too bad I'm not going to be around to see you grow up._

_I'm sorry, Conan._

Another nearby explosion had him move away from his spot to avoid being crushed by rubble. He stood back, looking at the door, when he heard his phone ringing.

It was Conan.

"You have to stop Ran-neechan right now!" he screamed, confusing the older boy for a moment. "It's a trap! Don't let her cut the red wire!"

Shinichi felt his lungs freezing up.

* * *

_00:02:32_

Conan stared at his watch as he heard Shinichi on the other side of the phone, desperately shouting Ran's name and to not cut the red one.

_00:02:40_

_Damn, she can't hear him!_

_00:02:43_

His teeth clenched as he watched time go by, and wished it would just stop.

_00:02:45_

And his grip on the phone tightened, listening as Shinichi still tried to be heard by Ran, but no avail.

Would be this the last time he would hear him...?

_00:02:50_

Before... Before he...

_00:02:52_

Conan felt his grip on the phone suddenly slaking, dropping unceremoniously on the floor. Yet nobody cared, too focused on the fiery scene in front of them.

_00:02:53_

And suddenly, it was hard to breath. All sound was completely gone.

He had thought his brother would get away from there, because he was Kudo Shinichi... But there was something he had failed to realize...

_00:02:54_

Kudo Shinichi was only human, the desperation on his voice from just a few seconds ago was proof of that.

_00:02:55_

And so was Mouri Ran, the girl trying to deactivate the bomb to save everyone in that building. Just one little, tiny mistake and...

_00:02:56_

Like so, the child stared with a lifeless expression and waited for the inevitable.

_00:02:57_

He wouldn't cook with the girl he cherished so much, that had grown to become a sister figure that he held very dearly. He wouldn't walk to school alongside her and hear her complain loudly about her lazy father and elusive not-boyfriend.

_00:02:58_

He wouldn't hear his brother's voice over the phone anymore, teasing and scolding him all the same. He wouldn't roll his eyes everytime he denied liking Ran, or hold back a sigh every time he promised he would be back soon.

_00:02:59_

_Ran-neechan..._

_Onii-chan..._

_00:03:00_

_00:03:01_

There was silence.

_00:03:02_

_00:03:03_

And sounds filled the place again, upon the realization that nothing had happened.

Conan fell on his knees, and slowly curled into himself, his forehead pressing against the ground.

_It's over, _he let out a relieved, yet watery laugh. _It's finally over._

Because of the commotion, nobody noticed the crystal tears rolling down his cheeks that had just escaped from his tightly shut eyes.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Soon, I promise :)

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: They met in chapter 11, I believe, at the diplomat murder case.

Lieutenant Myst: The day will come before you know it, don't worry :)

Dy: That's an interesting theory lol! I wonder what would happen if was actually true XD Fun fact, by the way, 'summer breeze', as you call it, was actually supposed to appear in chapter 18, but there were things I needed to write first so it had to be put in a later chapter. Had I realized it actually happened in volume 18 I would probably introduced her in that chapter lol.


	19. A Mysterious Woman in Black

**File Nineteen: A Mysterious Woman in Black**

Conan was running, as fast as his little feet let him, holding Ran's gift bag tightly against his chest.

Once he had seen Ran safe, yet sad because she hadn't been able to meet with Shinichi in person, he had taken her bag from her hands and bolted.

He didn't care Kogoro was most likely going to ground him for a month after running off in the middle of the night. He didn't care that Ran was pretty much going to agree wholeheartedly and make sure he fulfilled his grounding. He really didn't.

_That bastard, _that was the only thing he could think about right now. _Where did he disappear to this time?_

He passed by an alley, and stopped suddenly.

Listening carefully Conan could hear a labored breathing, and for a moment he didn't know what to do. Bad things happened to children in dark alleys ─ or at least, that was what adults used to say a lot.

Peeking around the wall, he froze. Even in the dim light, he could see a figure he would recognize anywhere, leaning against the wall for support and holding his chest, as if he was feeling an excruciating, unbelievable pain.

"... Onii-chan?!" Shinichi's head shot towards him at the sound of his voice. Ignoring the shocked look he sent his way, Conan rushed towards him. "What's wrong?! Are you hurt?!"

"C-Calm down, Conan," he said, with something that was between a smile and a grimace. "This... This is nothi-"

He gave a small scream, clutching his chest tighter, which did nothing to calm the little child's nerves. Conan went even closer, small hands on his shoulders and Ran's gift forgotten on the cold pavement.

"What do you mean with 'nothing'?!" he cried, then shuffled through his pocket to pull his phone out. "I'm calling an ambulance."

"No!" there was such an urgency on his voice that it actually caused to Conan stop. "Please, I _can't _see a doctor."

Conan gave his brother a long look and, to the latter's surprise, he complied. He just put the phone back.

_Just like I supposed, _the kid's eyes narrowed a bit in concern. _All of this has to be related with the drug that girl, Sherry, spoke of._

He said nothing, just stood in front of him as his brother recovered. Little by little, Shinichi's breathing slowed to a normal rate and his chest seemed to stop hurting. As he watched the older boy standing up, rather wobbly, he realized why he had ran off so suddenly.

_Ran-neechan wouldn't have let him go without seeing a doctor first if she saw him in this state._

"So, you're leaving again?" Shinichi looked back at his brother, who sighed, loudly, with a nod. "I knew you would."

The older Kudo frowned, slightly.

"_Even if he tries to hide it, it's obvious that Conan-kun is very worried about you."_

At first sight, one could mistake Conan's posture ─ hands behind his head and half opened lids as if in annoyment ─ as indifference but he now could see better. He saw a kid, worried sick about his brother, resigned to see him go once more.

Frustrated, because he could not stop him.

"_So you better apologize to him next time you see him!"_

So, the teenager kneeled in front of the surprised child, so he would be on his eye level, and wrapped his little hands around his. His eyes softened and a sweet smile appeared on his face.

And Conan just stared back, blinking.

"I'm sorry," the older brother began. "I'm sorry I never realized how much my absence affected you. I heard you were so worried about me, yet I have never paused to give that any thought."

Conan opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated, and closed it shut. Even so, Shinichi simply waited, patiently, while the child seemed to think how to put his thoughts into words.

Eventually, the little boy voiced his question.

"When are you going to be back?"

For a moment, the oldest Kudo considered telling him it all was going to be over soon, but there was something in Conan's eyes ─ something he wouldn't be able to describe, even if asked ─ that didn't let him lie his way out this time around.

"To be honest to you, I don't know. I'm involved with something big and I really don't know when I will be back."

Conan's gaze dropped to the floor.

"But there is something I'm certain of," the child looked up at him at those words. "It doesn't matter if it takes me months or even years, I'm definitely coming back to you, Conan. Back home."

The little boy didn't know what to say to that, so he avoided his gaze and picked up Ran's bag. Shinichi only blinked at him when he, rather roughly, pushed it against his chest.

"Take it," Conan grumbled. "Happy birthday, I guess."

The birthday boy hesitantly took it and couldn't help but smile a little when he inspected its contents. Inside was a red shirt and what it seemed to be a book wrapped in paper.

Before he could say anything in return, Conan did. His eyes remained fixed on the ground, though.

"... You promise, right?" his voice was unusually small and childish.

The little child looked up when he felt his own hand move, only to realize that his brother had locked Conan's pinky with his and was holding them right in front of him, wearing a big grin on his face.

But it was the confidence and determination on those blue eyes of his that ressured Conan that, yes, everything was going to be fine.

So, he smiled as well.

* * *

Mitsuhiko and Genta blinked at each other before turning their heads to continue to stare at the source of their puzzlement, sitting right in front of them. Conan didn't seem to notice yet, not taking his nose off his book, humming a song to himself as he turned a page over.

"... He is _humming,_" the bigger one whispered to the other, a serious look on his features. "I'm not hearing things, am I?"

"No, I can hear it too," the freckled kid nodded, his eyes trained on their friend. "There's no doubt about it, something is off about Conan-kun."

They paused, listening carefully to the soft humming coming from the boy. After awhile, they sighed, sweatdropping.

"Well, _that _is normal," Genta commented.

"I thought we could figure something out if we knew what song this is but..." Mitsuhiko trailed off. "I guess Conan-kun wouldn't be Conan-kun if he could carry a tune in a bucket..."

"Seriously, I knew he couldn't sing for his life, but to think he could hum this bad..."

"... You're well aware that I can clearly listen to everything you're saying, right?"

Both boys flinched at the other's voice, yet remained calm when he didn't even look at them, returning to his book with a slighter annoyed posture. Just then, Ayumi came inside the classroom, and was dragged back outside by the boys.

Conan sighed tiredly, flipping another page.

"What's wrong with you, guys?" the girl asked, quite confused at their friends' behavior.

"Did you see Conan?" Genta said, exasperated. "He's acting weird!"

Ayumi thought for it for a bit. Now that she thought about it, Conan had really looked different when she saw him that morning when walking to school. He was smiling a bit to himself, and it seemed like he was less tense than he normally was. It was as if there was radiant, bright aura around the boy.

"He's just very happy," she replied after a moment. "Conan-kun met with his brother last weekend, after all."

"But didn't Shinichi-san leave right after that?" Mitsuhiko added. "He was down for a few days last time that happened."

"Do you think he finally lost it?" Genta added, a bit concerned.

Ayumi giggled. "I think he's okay," she assured them, making her way back to the door. "Maybe they said goodbye properly this time."

"That's right..." the shorter boy nodded.

Conan watched his friends walking back inside the classroom, and continued reading. The three kids stood, as usual, close to his desk and started to talk about random things.

_It seems like Yoshida-san talked some sense into those idiots' heads, _he remembered what his older brother had said about his way to refer to his friends and mentally corrected himself. _No, Ayumi-chan did._

"Hey, did you hear, did you hear?" the girl exclaimed, excited for some reason. "There's going to be a transfer student today in this class!"

"Eh?!" Genta was surprised. "Really?"

"I wonder what this person is like!"

"I hope she's cute," Genta's eyebrows wiggled.

"No, no," Mitsuhiko waved his finger. "Whether it's a boy or a girl, personality comes first."

"Hey, Conan-kun," the boy looked up when he heard his name. "What kind of person do you think this kid is like?"

He leaned his head on his open palm. "Who knows," he shrugged. "We'll find out in a few minutes, anyway."

"Ayumi," the big boy called. "Didn't you see that kid in the teacher's lounge?"

"Yeah, I asked the name. They said it's Haibara."

"That's a unique name," Mitsuhiko commented.

"But I guess it's better than Conan."

"Well, excuse me for that," he pretended to be irritated, but the slight amused smile on his face gave it away. _I'm still going to get revenge for that, Onii-chan._

The three laughed, loudly, but were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. All eyes focused on the short, strawberry blonde girl that was making her way inside the classroom with the teacher smiling right behind her.

Everyone stared in awe at the new student, whispering to each other as the teacher and the girl walked in front of the classroom. Kobayashi sent everyone to their seats, and Conan couldn't help but sigh to himself.

The girl was cute, he would give them that, but he still couldn't understand why everyone was making such a deal with this one. It wasn't like there was something special about this new student besides her beauty. Not that they knew of, anyway.

Besides, in that harsh world he lived in, looks weren't everything. Intelligence and adaptability was far more important to survive.

Or so he thought.

She quietly glanced around the room until her eyes stopped moving, focused on a certain spot in the entire classroom. Despite himself, the boy flinched when he noticed where she was looking at.

Icy blue eyes, devoid of any kind emotion, were staring right into his soul.

A strong feeling of familiarity caused his body to stiffen and his eyebrows to frown, confusedly, as he held her gaze.

"Okay, she's Haibara Ai-san, who will be learning with us starting today," he didn't even realize Kobayashi finishing writing her name on the blackboard until she spoke. "Everyone, be friendly, alright?"

Even if Haibara herself didn't look particularly friendly, Conan thought to himself.

"Now then, Haibara-san's seat will be..."

"Sensei, here!" Genta pulled the chair next to his desk. "The seat next to mine is free!"

But Haibara had yet to break her stare away from Conan, even as she started to walk. The boy watched as she passed by Genta, surprising everyone, before settling into the spot next to Conan.

_... Eh?_

He only stared as she silently began to take out her books, finally looking away from him and blankly staring at the spot in front of her.

"Nice to meet you," her voice was stoic and cold, just like snow.

"Uh... Yeah," and then, he put his book back and began to pull his stuff out.

He didn't give it any more thought. Maybe Haibara was just another ordinary socially awkward kid, he decided as he focused back to the teacher.

Yet, he couldn't help but feel incredibly uncomfortable as he sat in class, next to this unusually quiet girl. A few times, he even caught her staring at him.

Every single time he would ask what was wrong, yet she wouldn't answer. Haibara would only frown a little before returning to her work.

He was beyond glad when the class was over and Haibara, wordlessly, stood from her seat and left, but mentally sighed when he spotted Ayumi running after her.

"Haibara-san!" Ayumi called, coming to a stop right next to her. "Let's go home together."

Haibara merely glanced at the girl, before continuing walking.

"Just leave a struck up woman like her alone," Genta seemed to still be mad after being rejected by her.

But Ayumi refused and went up to the new kid to continue her attempts to make a new friend, causing the bigger boy to scoff.

"Now that I think of it," Mitsuhiko pondered for a moment. "Doesn't Haibara-san remind you of Conan-kun a little?"

"Huh?" Conan didn't understand.

"You don't have play dumb," Genta frowned at him. "Like you don't remember pushing us away the first months after we met."

Finally the boy with glasses was able to understand what that meant, so he looked away from them, slightly offended. "Rude," he glared at them. _At least I tried to be polite and didn't downright ignore them... much. _

Mitsuhiko smiled apologetically before walking faster, catching up with the girls in an instant.

"Where do you live?" he asked her, with a friendly smile on his face. "You just moved here, right?"

"Don't be shy," Ayumi did the same. "We'll take you home."

Haibara paused.

"Beika Block, Second street," she said, quietly and tonelessly, and for some reason seemed to glance at Conan by the corner of her eye. "That's where I currently reside."

Not only Conan was startled by the revelation, but the other three kids were as well. Genta even gasped, loudly and said:

"Wait, Conan, isn't that close to-?"

Both Mitsuhiko and Ayumi shook their heads, furiously, from their spot behind Haibara, causing the bigger boy to panic. Conan sighed, tiredly, watching his friend wave his hands around and struggling to come up with some believable excuse.

"Yeah, I heard that's where that high school detective lived," he said, trying to cover up for him. "They say he mysteriously disappeared and nobody has seen him since last year, though."

Seemingly, it worked, because Haibara said nothing and kept on walking. The rest started to talk about other mundane things, quickly forgetting about that topic.

But Conan could have sworn he saw that mysterious girl smirk at him for a slight moment. Puzzled about her antics, he stopped right there, blinking.

It was like she knew something Conan did not.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Genta gave him a friendly nudge. "You like that stuck up woman?"

Conan winced at that, and furiously shook his head. "N-No, definitely not!"

Sighing loudly, he resumed his walk back to the lockers, his face tinted a bit red. _Damn, was I staring for too long? No wonder I gave him the wrong impression, _he thought. _Still, there's something about that girl that doesn't feel right._

By the time Genta and Conan caught up with them, Haibara was getting out her outdoor shoes from her locker.

"Detective Boys?" they heard her ask. "You guys?"

"Yes, in order to solve everyone's case, we're working day and night," Mitsuhiko proudly claimed, earning a look from Conan.

"You should join us too, Haibara-san," Ayumi offered.

_Please, don't do it, _Conan cringed.

Call him cruel, or whatever, but there was something truly unsettling about that girl and he really didn't want her in her circle of friends.

"Is Edogawa-kun in it too?"

Conan was seriously tempted to tell her that no, he certainly wasn't on the group, when Genta's big hand fell on his head and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, this guy is like my apprentice, though."

_Wow. First a villager and now an apprentice? _he glared at his friend. _It has been clearly me the one solving every single case..._

Even through the cases usually consisted in finding missing cats which would turn out to be gruesome murders because that was just his luck.

"All request are sent to Genta-kun's shoe-locker," Ayumi explained, pointing at the paper they had tapped on it that read:

"_Difficult cases are greatly welcome!_

_Class 2-B_

_Detective Boys."_

"All the requests are to be left in there," Mitsuhiko added.

"Although we're keeping it a secret from the teachers," Genta smiled.

"Eh?" Conan blinked. "Were we?"

The three looked at him, scandalized. "You didn't tell anyone, did you?!" they all screamed.

"There's no need to, they already know," said the boy, with a plain voice, then pointed at the paper on Genta's locker. "Did you truly expect them not to notice _that_?"

"Well..." they looked at each other, doubtfully.

Conan resisted the urge to facepalm.

"It doesn't matter if they know," Genta decided, quickly, going to open his locker. "Everyday, everyday, it's awesome. The letters from those who are in trouble," he peeked inside, and noticed it empty, his lonely shoes standing on the middle of the compartment. "Nothing here... That's weird! There's usually more in it, but today just happens to be..."

The three kids laughed, nervously.

_There isn't any in there usually, either, _Conan thought, making his way to his own locker, and taking out his shoes.

"I'm going home," he declared. "I'm grounded, and I definitely don't want Ran-neechan extending it by another month."

"You are grounded?" Genta blinked, confusedly. "What did you do?"

This caused the boy to give him another _are-you-serious_ look, thus shutting him up. Genta then laughed nervously, and went to fetch his own shoes, when he noticed a note inside and gasped. "Hey! It's a request!"

That really took them by surprise. "Really?" Ayumi brightened, and Genta opened it to read.

"_Dear Detective Boys;_

_I'll wait for you in Class 2-A after school._

_Please and thank you._

─ _Nakada Toshiya."_

"Then, let's get going!" Mitsuhiko declared. "To Class 2-A!"

Conan complained loudly when Genta pushed him forward, vocally reminding him he had to return home right away. "It's okay, it won't take that long!" the big boy assured him.

"You can hear what he has to say and then go right back home," the freckled one said. "Maybe you can give us a hint and then we can take care of it by ourselves."

Realizing he didn't have much say in that matter, the boy decided to come along. Soon, Ayumi and Haibara caught up with them and they all went inside the classroom.

Toshiya was standing in the middle of the room when they arrived, shifting uncomfortably where he stood. Mitsuhiko asked what the problem was, and Conan barely paid attention to it, wishing for it to end quickly.

Until he stated what his case was.

"My older brother disappeared suddenly," he explained. "He's ten years older than me. He disappeared in the afternoon one week ago."

His words had struck home.

_What are the odds? _Conan felt three sets of gazes falling on him, but he paid no mind, just staring at the child with sharp eyes.

The three kids then looked at each other, a serious expression on each on their faces, before returning to the quest in hand.

"Did you see him talking with somebody that looked extremely dangerous and suspicious?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"Did they wear completely black clothes?" Genta continued.

"Do you think he could be hiding from somebody else?" Ayumi inquired.

"E... Eh..." the boy didn't quite know how he was supposed to answer. "N-No."

Conan sighed, loudly.

And for some reason Haibara's eyes narrowed, slightly, yet nobody noticed.

"Anyway," Conan spoke up, as he watched Toshiya's distressed face. "Let's go to his home. We'll talk after that."

Nobody questioned him, even if he had seemed to forget about the fact that he was actually grounded. Mostly because they knew why he was that determined to find out the truth.

Because Conan would see himself every single time he looked at this boy's look of worry and fear.

* * *

"Check this out!"

"It's the super new style of air shoes!"

Conan wondered if bringing his friends along had actually been a good idea. He should've learned his lesson last time they had gone to investigate in his own house, back when he had been looking for Shinichi. They had basically turned his home upside down, mostly snooping around and checking out his place, rather than actual detective work.

"How is that relevant, exactly?" asked Conan, feeling suddenly tired.

"We now know that Toshiya-kun's brother knows a lot of brand names," Mitsuhiko proudly nodded to himself.

"Does he?" Conan turned to the boy, and he hesitated.

"Uh... I don't know," he pondered. "But those shoes were a gift from my uncle in America. I have a pair as well."

The two paused, then returned the shoes back to its place.

"I see..."

"We now know he doesn't!"

Even if he did, the Conan still failed to understand how was that important. Shrugging to himself, he went back to work.

Now, he wasn't completely sure what to look for, however. Unlike Shinichi, Toshiya's brother was not a detective, and Toshiya himself didn't look particularly adept to riddles either. Their cases were completely different.

At least there wouldn't be any mysterious, and equally dangerous, men in black roaming around the house this time around. God, that had been scary.

His mind went back to his encounter with the girl, Sherry.

_It has been a long while and still nothing happened even if she saw me. Did she really keep quiet about my presence?_

Tokiya noticed Haibara's lips twitching as he stared at the back of Conan's head. A very sinister smile sent a chill down his neck.

"His wallet is still here," Conan pointed out, as he picked it up from the drawer.

"And why is that relevant?" Genta argued.

The boy in question raised an eyebrow at him. "Because it means he didn't run away?"

"Oh..."

"Oh."

Suddenly, they heard Ayumi laughing, loudly. She came crawling from under the bed, with what it seemed to be a painting.

"What's this? There are lots of weird drawings under the bed!"

Genta took a look of it, and started laughing as well. Haibara, however, didn't.

"Picasso," was all she said.

"Ah, that's true!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed. "It's the reproduction of _The Crying Woman._"

Conan walked closer before pulling out another few of them from under the bed. "Gogh, Monet, Gauguin," he observed. "They're copies."

"My brother painted them," Toshiya explained. "In high school, he was one of the best in reproducing famous paintings."

"Do you think someone would kidnap him for this quality?" Genta asked.

"It's not impossible," said Mitsuhiko. "If he paints copies and then replaces them for the true ones..."

"Not a chance. Even if his paintings are pretty good, the choice of colours and the impression are not perfect," his eyes moved to another portrait. "That one, however..."

It was a portrait of Natsume Soseki, Conan noticed. That one was particularly well made, to the point that he could've easily mistaken it for a photograph.

"My brother really likes this author. He adores this painting so much that he even presented this in a gallery," Toshiya told them. "But it looks like a photo so much that critics were hard... The only person that congratulated him was a strange woman. "

Conan frowned at that. "A strange woman?"

"Yes... She wore a large hat..." the boy trailed off, and then gasped. "Wait... Now that I think about it... She _was _wearing black clothes."

The three kids instantly turned around to look at him, shock written all over their faces, before glancing at a very pale Conan. There was a look of utter terror on his face.

"She was dressed in black from head to toe."

And Haibara, as always, quietly watched the kids with all-too-seeing eyes.

* * *

A/N:

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Ah, sorry, my bad! It was actually at the end chapter 4, the Roller Coaster Murder Case.

ajjr1: Soon, probably in a few chapters.

Dy: Sorry, since I won't probably live enough to write 158 chapters more... Here you have her XD! And about your suspicions, there isn't much I can say besides that Shinichi didn't jump into the train, he was there already when he called Conan. I think it wasn't clear enough when I wrote it, so sorry lol.


	20. The Little Scientist

**File Twenty: The Little Scientist**

Conan was restless, and there was little reason not to. There was a missing person and probably those mysterious men in black were behind it. Toshiya had mentioned another two men hanging around the woman, and he couldn't help but remember Gin and Vodka's faces every time he thought about it.

He guessed that Toshiya's brother had been kidnapped to use his drawing skills to fabricate counterfeit money. He had seen a suspicious man using fake money to buy a pack of cigarettes after all.

There was something he was completely certain of, however. He had seen what these men were capable of ─ Hirota Masami's bloody death still haunted him to this day ─ and he certainly didn't want his friends around. If something happened to them...

He stopped his thought there. Conan didn't want to think about it.

So, he convinced them to go home because it was getting late, and that he would catch up with them.

Soon, after following the man's trail he reached Daitoma, and decided to check out an estate agency he had passed by to ask for any warehouses they had lent at the edge of the city.

Not such a luck.

"You're hindering my work," the man on charge patted his head, which annoyed him a lot. "Take your friends and go home already."

"... Friends?"

Turning around, he winced under the glares that Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta were sending his way, faces pressed against the window while sliding out his sight. Toshiya and Haibara were also there. The boy had a pretty confused expression while the girl... Well, he couldn't really figure out what she was thinking about.

"We're not going to fall for your tricks all the time!" Genta yelled.

"Sneaking out to go on your own is your number one move," Mitsuhiko accused him.

"H-How did you find me?" Conan blinked.

"We were told by Haibara-san and followed you here," Mitsuhiko pointed at the girl in question, who was glancing at the magazines in the corner of the room.

"She said that you were planning to get rid of us to go investigate on your own," Ayumi added.

The two exchanged a grin, yet Conan couldn't help but stare at the strange girl, before his eyebrow twitched. _That girl... _

Not only she was unsettlingly creepy, but it looked like she could easily see through his lies. Now he _really _didn't want her around, he decided.

There was nothing he could do about it, though.

"Umm..." Toshiya went to the man. "Is there any novelist living around here?"

"Novelist?" Conan turned to him. "What does it have to do with anything?

"After my brother disappeared, he did call home once."

_What?!_

"Why didn't you tell us that earlier?!" the other three were suddenly at their side, looking as shocked as him.

"The one who picked up the phone was our grandmother, but she's got a bad ear, and my brother was talking fast, so she couldn't tell what he was saying," Toshiya tried to explain himself. "The only words she got was that he was with a bunch of people like Soseki."

Conan thought it over, but didn't quite understand what that meant. Toshiya then said that his brother's voice had been quivering at the time, and that he had hung up suddenly ─ probably after being discovered, Conan supposed.

"Come to think of it," the man said. "There's a person like Soseki living close by. He's the owner of a bookstore around the corner."

Even if they went to that bookstore, they didn't really find anything suspicious. While terribly bad tempered, the owner didn't seem to be related at all with Toshiya's brother's disappearance.

"I checked the books and its storage," Conan explained to his group. "But there weren't any machines used for printing counterfeit money."

"Speaking of printers," the man commented. "The newspaper company in front of the station was putting in a new one recently."

True to his words, a newspaper building stood in front of them, right in front of the police station. He didn't think much about it, until he asked how were the people working in there.

The man answered that the president was a woman, wearing a black hat and dressed in black. After that he left, not without telling them to drop it because there was absolutely no way someone would print counterfeit money right in front of the police.

_Now, what does it all have to do with Soseki?_

"_What are you doing, Conan?" _he recalled his brother asking when he was four years old.

"_Reading."_

"_A dictionary?" _Shinichi had blinked, when his younger brother had shrugged. "_Why?"_

"_I read a strange word recently," _the child had explained. "_And I found a lot of other interesting words in here, so..."_

Shinichi had chuckled at his weird behaviour, which was pretty unusual for a little kid of his age. He had said at the time that he couldn't think of another child that would spend his time reading a dictionary just to know a few more words.

Conan also remembered him saying something else back then:

"Rinse thy mouth with rocks," the child mumbled, deep in thought. "And pillow thy head upon the flow."

"Eh?" the other children didn't understand.

"It's a famous quote of Soseki, that means being eccentric," he explained. "So, usually when you want to make counterfeits, you'd want to avoid attention and be at the edge of the city, but these people..."

"They placed that place in front of the station!" Mitsuhiko realized, and Conan nodded at him. "I see... If they did that, they would avoid suspicion by the police."

* * *

Predictably so, the police had laughed at them and did not believe a single word, so he had decided to leave the children alone for a moment to call Inspector Megure, using his brother voice.

His surprise was big when the police then told him that his friends had gone inside the newspaper company, claiming that they would find proof.

"And you let them go _alone?_" Conan was furious. "When there's a slight possibility of dangerous criminals hanging around?!"

The policemen exchanged looks and shruggered, probably thinking that the little kid was just a tad paranoiac. The child just scowled at them and took off running.

"I'm making sure every single soul knows you ignored the testimony of a group of children and let them get in trouble!" he cried over his shoulder.

"W-Wait, kid!"

He didn't listen, just went inside the building and ran upstairs, as fast as he could, feeling as fear gripped his chest, which prompted him to go even faster. In less than a minute, the boy reached the top.

When he heard Genta's loud voice, Conan couldn't help but sigh, both due to relief and annoyment. _Really, can't these guys keep it quiet for once..._

Before he could enter the room to get them out, however, he felt a familiar coldness pressing on the back of his head.

"Your detective game has come to an end, young man."

Conan froze on his spot, slowly letting go of the door handle.

By the way Ayumi was crying his name now, Conan knew the other criminals were inside. He even heard a woman's voice telling his friends that he was dead, and them sobbing because of it.

To be fair, Conan was pretty much screwed so that statement wasn't that far from reality.

There was a _click _sound he knew very well. Slowly, his hand went to his wrist watch and the lid flipped open, making sure to hide his actions with his own body. Then, took a deep breath, before spinning around.

The criminal fell into the floor in a heap before he could pull the trigger, before cracking the door open and peeking inside. His eyes opened, widely, when he saw the woman in black pointing a gun at Ayumi's face.

So, he wasted no time and picked the gun from the fallen criminal before putting the security back on. Then activated his kicking shoes and aimed at the woman's hand.

She lost the grip on her weapon, causing it to fall a few feet away from her. "Who is there?!" angrily, she faced to the door.

His friend's expressions brightened when they saw him there, standing in the doorway, while sparks of electricity danced around his feet. The boy glanced at his friends, exchanging smiles for a moment, before he turned to the woman.

"Edogawa Conan," his tender smile turned into a confident smirk. "Just a detective."

"Impossible! Inuyama dealt with you earlier!"

"Oh, you mean _that _Inuyama?" he stepped aside, letting her see her partner lying on the ground, out cold. The woman growled.

The child simply walked to a box filled with several sealed buckets of paint. Then, grinning devilishly at her, he kicked a pair. Her partners suffered the same destiny as Inuyama.

Gritting her teeth, the woman rushed to the weapon she had dropped and stretched her hand, but she didn't get to pick it up.

She froze in place when she met icy cold, blue eyes, filled with murderous intent. The gun she had failed to take was now in front of her nose. Then, there was a loud _bang._

The window shattered behind her.

And the entire room fell into an unsettling silence.

"H-Haibara... san...?" Conan muttered, still in shock, as the girl silently lowered the weapon.

Her expression hadn't changed a bit throughout the entire ordeal.

Unlike Conan, the other children recovered right away, and started cheering, praising Haibara for her coolness and bravery, when they saw the two police cops bursting into the room. They must have seen the window breaking due to the shot and rushed right over, or so Conan thought.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Genta grinned. "We've solved the case."

"These are the evidence fake bills," Mitsuhiko held the paper in front of him.

"And that is Toshiya-kun's brother who was kidnapped," Ayumi pointed at the teenager.

He could only laugh, awkwardly, in return.

"And for the record," Conan smirked. "We _told you so._"

The policemen that were just standing there, blinking, looked at the boy with glasses and grimaced, clearly remembering his promise from a while ago.

_We are so fired... _they thought, in unison.

Inspector Megure arrived at the scene roughly twenty minutes later and arrested the criminals on the spot. Toshiya's brother was released not long thereafter.

It didn't go as smoothly as Conan had expected, however. It turned out that the woman in black had absolutely nothing to do with the organization that Shinichi was running away from. Apparently, the woman was a famous wanted criminal that went by the name of The Silver Fox and was deeply involved with counterfeit money making.

As impressive as it was, however, she still wasn't involved with the Black Organization. At all.

It was such a disappointment.

One look at his right, though, and it all went away. The sight of Toshiya's radiant smile and tears of happiness as he hugged his older brother, tightly, caused Conan to smile, without meaning to.

_I'm happy for you, Nakada._

He was glad that those two brothers, separated by ruthless criminals in order to accomplish their shady objectives, got a happy ending at the end.

_I wonder... _Conan's smile dropped a tiny bit. _I wonder if there's a good ending for us two as well, Onii-chan._

"But this time, you'll be charged for kidnapping, illegal gun possession and firing," he was brought out of his thoughts by Megure, who was talking to the Silver Fox. "It looks like you will be gone for a long time."

"I'm not the one that fired," she motioned to Haibara, who stood silently behind them. "It was that little girl."

Haibara didn't bat an eye.

Yet Megure certainly did.

"What?!" the next second, the inspector was rushing up to her, a stern and equally terrified expression on his face. "Why did you do such a dangerous thing?!"

For the first time in an entire day, the girl's plain expression shifted. Her eyes had opened slightly when she was reprimanded, then started to water.

"But..." she sobbed. "... But..."

Megure panicked, fussing over the child when she burst out crying, apologizing for his scary approach over and over again. He probably thought he had gone overboard ─ this could clearly be a case of a traumatized child that thought firing a gun could the only way out.

Conan's eyes narrowed however, shifting his gaze to the hole in the broken window.

Luckily they let them go home not long thereafter. Ayumi and the rest were hovering over a still crying Haibara as they walked, not having the sightless clue of how to comfort their new classmate. Conan did not say anything, though, at least until Ayumi ─ the other two had gone home already at this point ─ had to part ways.

"Will you be okay on your own, Haibara-san?" asked the girl, concern filling her voice.

"Don't worry," the boy reassured her, with a comforting smile. "I'll take her home."

"Are you sure, Conan-kun? Your house is in the other way."

"Yeah, just go home, Ayumi-chan. I'll take it from here."

With a hesitant nod and one last look at Haibara, the girl turned around and disappeared inside the building, immediately climbing up the stairs to her apartment. It wasn't until she was halfway towards her room, that she realized it.

_Did Conan-kun just call me by my name?_

Smiling a little to herself, the kid left her bag on the floor and went to the kitchen. She wondered what she would have for dinner.

* * *

The pair continued to walk. Not a word had been exchanged between them, and they kept at it for a few blocks, letting Haibara's sobs fill the uncomfortable silence. Then, Conan stopped on his tracks, not bothering to look at the girl behind her.

"Now that we're alone, you can stop pretending," the boy said, with a very serious expression. "Your acting is pretty convincing, but I can't believe it coming from someone who is definitely used to firing guns."

Haibara stopped crying instantly, and Conan didn't need to turn around to know that she now had a very menacing smile plastered on her face. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Your stance and incredible accuracy," he explained, before finally turning around to examine her with his sharp gaze. "You didn't miss her head by an inch just by chance. You were _aiming _for that spot_._"

The way the girl giggled sent a chill running down his spine.

"Impressive as expected, child detective, Kudo Conan-kun."

His breath caught on his throat at that sentence, then took a deep breath. He hoped his shock hadn't shown on his face, but the widening smirk on Haibara's face told him that it just had.

"Just... Who are you, really, Haibara-san?"

Her hand raised and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sherry," Conan paled at that name. "That's my codename."

The child was paralyzed, stuck on his spot while staring at the girl, mouth suddenly going dry.

_Sherry?! How is that even possible?_

Now he could see that, even if a bit different, this girl definitely resembled the one he had briefly seen months ago. Her hair was different ─ _a wig? _─ but the shape of her face and her overall physical complexion was exactly the same.

Not to mention her gelid, icy blue stare.

"Well, are you surprised?" her evil smile widened. "It has been a long while since we last saw each other, hasn't it, Kudo-kun?"

Conan took a step back, sweating bullets but didn't let his gaze stray away from her form. "Why didn't you say anything?" he did an abysmal effort not to let his fear show on his face, however. "Back then, you said I was just a rat."

"Which isn't too far from reality, is it?" she chuckled to herself, before continuing. "I needed time. I had to make sure you weren't just an unfortunate homeless child that lived inside Kudo Shinichi's house and were, in fact, actually related to him."

Sherry clasped her hands behind her back, giving out the false impression of a cute little girl, but Conan did not feel at ease with it.

"I made a background check. My surprise was big when I came into the conclusion that Kudo Shinichi's little brother wasn't away in America, but back in Japan with a different last name," she explained to him, quietly and calmly, as if it meant nothing. Probably because it _actually_ meant nothing to her. "The Organization had come into the decision to eliminate every single soul that was related with that high school detective."

"So, are you going to kill me?" he smirked, yet in reality he was cursing his fate. The anesthetic needle had already been used on the criminal a few hours ago, leaving him completely defenseless against a sudden attack.

"Not only you, but also his friends, _your _friends. That includes Kudo Shinichi's dear girlfriend and her father, who you are living with... And of course, the previous owner of the house I'm currently living at, who we have already taken care of."

Conan's eyes opened, widely. _22 Beika Block, Second Street, _it dawned to him, and then he couldn't hide his horror. _Why haven't I realized it before?! _

"Why don't you go and take a look, if you don't believe me?" Conan's eyes narrowed at that. "Don't worry, I won't move from this spot. You can go if you truly want to."

Now Conan didn't want to turn his back on her, fearing it was a vile trap, yet on the other hand he couldn't bear the thought of Professor Agasa's body lying still on the floor, growing colder at every passing second while a pool of blood began forming beneath.

He gave a hesitant step ahead, then started to ran, and paused right before going around the corner. Looking over his shoulder he saw Haibara, standing on her place with her arms behind her back and a very disturbing smile curving her lips, still as a statue.

Hoping he wouldn't regret his decision later, the child took off running.

* * *

At the end, he _did _regret it, but for another reason altogether.

"Oh, Conan," Agasa smiled, unaware of what had happened to the young boy in front of him. "What are you doing here so late?

Conan blinked, and then blinked again for good measure. The professor didn't disappear and just stood there, waiting for him to speak. He never did.

Because the door opened.

"I'm home," the familiar girl walked inside, as if she had lived in there for ages, then sat on the couch.

"Welcome home, Ai-kun."

Conan was rendered speechless at the scene developing in front of him. Agasa was casually chatting with Haibara, like a father would with his daughter ─ _grandfather and granddaughter? ─ _after a long day of school.

"I take you already met Ai-kun, right?"

It took Conan's brain a few seconds more than it should to process the fact that this girl had taken him for a fool, and when it did, the boy glared at Haibara. The child in question just smirked back at him, which irritated him even more.

Agasa laughed loudly when he was told everything that had happened on their way home. Conan's eyebrow was twitching at this point.

"So, this means it was all a big lie?" the boy asked, annoyment sipping on his voice. "Every single thing?"

Haibara flipped a page of her magazine. "Only the part where I was going to kill everyone," she replied, as if it was matter of fact. "I'm not part of the assassination division."

"So you...?" his eyes widened behind his glasses.

"I was the head scientist and worked for the Organization."

The boy gave her a weird look, taking on her appearance. No matter how hard he looked, this girl simply couldn't be older than eight. So what...?

"I'm a prodigy," she explained, clearly noticing his confusion, with a smug smirk. "Or so they say. At any rate, they raised me to develop a certain drug for them," with a pause, the child shifted her gaze to the boy, before continuing. "The same one your older brother, Kudo Shinichi, ingested. Apotoxin-4869."

Conan took a sharp breath and his eyes narrowed. "What does it do?" quietly, he asked.

"Inhibition in the cardiovascular system, a decrease of heartbeats in one person over time," she explained to him. "Side effects include occasional severe chest pains, shortness of breath, fatigue and _death._"

"... Death...?"

"Most of the rats died right after taking it. The only one that didn't only survived two weeks."

The silence was deafening, Agasa noticed as he watched the young child take on this new information. To be honest, the old professor couldn't tell what was going through the kid's mind, since the light refracting on his glasses was hiding his eyes from plain view.

When he began to shake, the old professor seriously worried about the child detective. Hesitation filling his features, he tried to place a comforting hand on top of his shoulder, but it was whisked away when the boy suddenly turned around to face him.

"... Why?" he said in a whisper, before shifting. The light on his lenses was gone and now he could see the tear-filled, furious look on his young eyes. "Why is she living on your house?! Can't you see she's part of the men in black?!"

She had poisoned her brother.

This girl had created a poison that was slowly killing him.

And she had said that, so coldly and indifferently, like it meant nothing to her. It only made Conan angry ─ angrier than he had ever felt before.

_Then why...? Why...?!_

"He took me in," the boy paused when he heard her voice. "When he found me laying on the ground in the rain in front of your house," then, she turned to look at him and smiled, for the first time since he had met her. "That Professor right there."

Conan said nothing, yet his anger didn't leave right away.

"Your brother was supposed to die anyway, so he should consider himself lucky he was forced to take that experimental drug instead of a bullet in the head," she explained, easily holding his fiery gaze. "Out of the individuals who took that drug, his death was not confirmed. I changed his data, so shouldn't be a problem anymore."

Haibara turned back to her magazine.

"Well, once they realize I'm not dead and that it was me, a traitor, who wrote the data, he will be in trouble."

_Traitor?_ the fury had now somewhat receded, and confusion took hold. "Why did you do that?"

Something flickered behind her eyes, and he saw her hands tensing a little bit around the magazine. Whatever it was, she managed to keep it inside.

"I have many reasons," finally, she told him. "But the biggest reason was my older sister."

"Your sister?"

"She was killed by the members of the Organization," she told him. "No matter how much I demanded, the Organization didn't tell me the reason behind it."

Her eyes narrowed, and her grip on the magazine tightened.

"Then, I decided to stop working on the development of that drug until I received an answer," she continued. "Of course I, who went against the organization, was confined to a small room in the lab and was to wait for the decision from above. I thought that since I was going to get killed anyway, I would take the Apotoxin-4869 which I secretly held."

Conan truthfully hadn't expected that. He hadn't thought anyone in their right mind would willingly take a poisonous drug, and such a violent one at that. She must have been desperate, he realized.

"And how did you escape?"

"Once ingested, the drug makes the victim enter a death-like state for a while, between twenty to thirty minutes," she explained. "When they entered the room, it looked like I had committed suicide."

The girl then finally left her spot and walked over the bookshelf, where the professor had left the newspaper, and took it. She held it in front of her to let them see the cover:

_Drug company burned to the ground._

"They decided to get rid of my body, and anything possibly related to me, by setting the lab on fire, probably afraid I had left any clue behind that could incriminate them. I managed to escape, yet everything else was destroyed," Haibara told them, calmly as always. "Including all the drug's data stored in there."

Both the girl and the old man stared at Conan, waiting for his reaction. The boy, in turn, was quiet for a moment, as he took all this information in, before he frowned. There still was anger behind his eyes, but it had dimmed a bit somehow.

He was mostly determined now, though.

"You still can make an antidote, right?" Conan asked, his eyes meeting hers. "Even if you don't have the data."

"I have never tried to remember all of iy," at her words, the boy visually tensed. The girl noticed this, paused briefly, then let a smirk cross her face again. "But I guess I still need to try. My life goes with it as well."

Behind his glasses, his eyes lighted up. Haibara couldn't help but stare, thoroughly amused, at the look of hope that now was painting his face, even if his fists had yet to stop clenching.

_Hope, huh? _she couldn't remember the last time she had experienced it herself.

* * *

A/N:

SapphireRuby24: Shiho and Haibara will probably just be the same person. She will be an actual child this time around, though.

ajjr12: I think he won't, he probably is going to remain as Edogawa Conan even as the Kid Killer.

Dy: It wasn't just coincidence, what I tried to say was that, as soon as he heard the news about the bomb, he got on the train then called Conan. I hope it makes sense and sorry for the dissapointing answer lol. About what you asked about Kobayashi... In my country homeroom teachers work just like in yours, but before writing that I had tried to research and by what I understood (I wouldn't be surprised if I just got it all wrong and messed up badly) students in Japan usually have the same homeroom teacher during their entire life, that's why I supposed that Conan and his friends would still have Kobayashi as their teacher even if they already were in second grade.


	21. A Matter of Trust

**File Twenty-One: A Matter of Trust**

"Where are you, young man?!" Ran's angry voice boomed through the phone, prompting the child to wince as his ear started to hurt. "I've been calling you all day and I didn't even get sign of you!"

"I'm sorry," Conan apologized, refusing to tell her that he had actually been ignoring her calls. At the time, he had believed he had an important case in his hands, much more important than listening through Ran's scolding. Now, he thought he probably should have picked it up.

"And you are supposed to be grounded!"

"Yes, I'm truly sorry."

"Now, you better get home on this instant or else-"

"I'm staying over at the Professor's house," the child spoke, quickly, before she could continue. "He made a fun game and wants me to play with it..."

He trailed off, closing his eyes waiting for the inevitable sound of Ran scolding him. Sure enough, the girl seemed to huff, and then take a deep breath.

"Kudo Conan, you better-!"

_Click._

Quickly turning his phone off, the boy let out a big sigh and massaged his forehead. _I think I should prepare for Ran-neechan to extend my grounding for a year, at least, _he lamented on his head. _And to confiscate all my books for another decade._

Well it was not like he could help it. Any other day he would have happily returned home early to read a book, then have a delicious dinner and go to bed, like any other good kid would. But there was so much in stake, and his brother's life was one of them.

So, for him, he would endure a five-year grounding if necessary.

After giving another contemplating look towards his phone, he leaned back on the car seat. Currently they were headed towards Professor Hirota Masami's house to retrieve a floppy that seemed to store the Apotoxin-4869's information inside. It turned out Haibara had sent it back to her sister by accident, and now it was on the hands of her university teacher.

Though, his name...

_Hirota Masami._

"_I'll leave the rest to you... little detective..."_

He stared at his palms again and blinked repeatedly. Just now, his hands had been soaked in blood, _Hirota-san's blood. _Shaking his head and tucking his hands on his pocket, he decided look through the window, focusing on the empty, darkened street.

It had to be a coincidence. It had to.

Now he had to focus on his brother. The teenager had been poisoned, and he didn't know how much he had left to live. Every single time he thought about it, his heart would clench on his chest. He truly didn't want to lose him.

_But... _Conan's eyes widened slightly behind his glasses. _Why did they want to kill him so badly?_

He hadn't given it much thought, especially after being told about the drug and possible risks after consumption, but now he couldn't really stop thinking about it.

Craning his neck to the side, he watched the mysterious girl with a thoughtful look, and opened his mouth to speak, to ask her what was in his mind. She was glancing through the window, yet her eyes seemed to be staring at something far, far away. There something sad about her posture.

She had lost her older sister recently, she had said, and Conan would have been lying if he said he couldn't understand, at least a little bit, what she was going through. It only had been a few days since he had almost lost his brother, and those seconds when he had thought Shinichi was gone were probably the worst ones in his entire, short life.

But understanding certainly didn't mean forgiving. Conan still couldn't feel at ease around her, the creator of that murderous drug. Even if it did end up saving the high school detective by chance.

"What?" he jumped when he heard her voice. She wasn't even looking at him. "You have staring at me for a while."

The boy hesitated.

"... How much does my brother have?" he settled that question. "You said the rats that survived died after two weeks... But that doesn't make any sense, considering he probably took that drug months ago."

She smirked. "For a detective, you're kind of slow. Understandable, considering you were in shock after all that happened, and all the information you received all of sudden," Haibara merely glanced at him for a couple of seconds, before staring out the window again. "Rats and humans have different organisms. For instance, their lifespan as it is around a mere couple of years. So your brother could certainly live for a little longer."

"How much, then?"

"Two years, give or take."

That didn't make him feel much better, if he was honest. And it seemed it was also the case with Agasa, if the way his grip on the wheel tightened was something to go by.

"That means you have that much, doesn't it?" Conan asked her.

"Of course," she simply replied. "Then, is there something else you want to ask?"

Conan opened his mouth once more, yet paused at the last moment.

Before it clamped shut and his eyes went back to the road.

He still couldn't bring himself trust her.

* * *

Haibara watched the detective boy sitting in front of the old phone, hand on his chin as he struggled to figure out how Hirota's locked-room murder ─ as his luck would have it, of course the university teacher had died ─ happened in the first place.

There were several messages left in the phone, including one from someone they recognized as Vodka, even when his voice had been modified with a machine. However, the two children came into the conclusion that Hirota hadn't been killed by the Organization ─ they wouldn't have left the evidence behind if they had.

Conan was deadly serious, and for a moment Haibara thought that he would manage to solve this mystery.

But then, she would remember.

_"Onee-chan, don't go."_

_Miyano Akemi looked back at her little sister, a curious look on her features. For some reason, the usually serious little girl seemed to be extremely distressed._

_"Please don't," the child continued. "I have... I have a really bad feeling about this mission."_

_There was a pause, then the older girl seemed to smile, sweetily, down at the kid._

_"Don't worry, Shiho," she assured her, letting her hand rest on top of her head. "I'll be perfectly okay."_

The newspaper's photograph danced through her mind, teasing her ─ torturing her ─ repeating the same words over and over again.

"_I'll be perfectly okay."_

There was a boy with glasses, clearly distressed, standing beside a woman's body while staring at his hands. They were covered in blood. _Her _blood.

"_I'll be perfectly okay."_

She frowned, and opened her mouth to speak.

"It's impossible."

Conan looked up at the girl, a bit puzzled at the anger concealed on her eyes, and said nothing as she walked closer, fingers intertwined behind her back. Then leaned over and picked a chess piece up from the ground.

"Besides, it's dangerous to stay here any longer, there's no point," she kneeled down in front of him. "Give it up, Kudo-kun. This case is already..." the chess piece was placed on top of the phone he had been staring at. "... checkmate."

The girl stepped up and was about to leave, when she saw Conan's eyes widen slightly, and taking the piece between his fingers. "Checkmate..." he whispered, deep in thought, then gasped. "Checkmate?!"

Haibara gave him a blank look, wondering if the boy was deaf or only painfully slow, and was about to repeat for him what she had just said ─ and that he had to accept defeat for once ─ when he suddenly jumped on his feet. She could only watch, speechless, as he started to childishly tug on the officer's pants.

She blinked. Had she heard wrong or he had just asked for a tape, telling him that Inspector Yokomizo had asked for it?

The naive officer complied and returned with it right away. Yokomizo stared at the tape on his hands, confusedly, when Conan jumped and stole it from his hands.

"Hey, kid!" Yokomizo scolded him when he had started to pull the tape off, strolling closer to the phone. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I know a magic trick, Inspector-san!" he beamed at him. "Do you want to see it?"

Before the poor inspector could stop the child, he had already began his demonstration. Fast forward a few minutes, the entire room was stunned at the sight of the book falling on top of the key, perfectly.

If she was being honest, Haibara was shocked as well when she saw that the trick had worked, even if she had been skeptical at first.

"I see..." Yokomizo mumbled, after the initial shock had died down. "Then, if the killer..."

"Ah, but I don't think that's how the killer did it," Conan said to the inspector. "It would be stupid to leave the tape here, with the culprit's fingerprints all over it as evidence, right?"

Yokomizo's eyes opened, widely. Shirakura Akira's did, too.

So, the killer was caught.

Only when the culprit was being taken away did Haibara completely understand it.

Kudo Conan was a genius, a child with an impressive intelligence and power of observation, whose deductive skills could easily surpass an adult five times his age. Even older.

A true prodigy in his area. With an older, loving sibling. So similar to her.

Yet, so different.

Her lip quivered.

"Why...?" it came out as a whisper, which Conan barely heard. "Why didn't you... Why didn't you help my sister?"

Blue orbs opened, widely, behind thick glasses. "Y-Your... sister?" he managed.

"You still don't know?!" tears began to roll down her pale face, her watery eyes, which had used to be so lacking of any emotion before, glaring furiously at the boy. "Hirota Masami was... Onee-chan's fake name she got from Hirota-san!"

Haibara saw him taking a sharp breath and gazing at the palms of his hands for some reason. "... Masami-san was your sister..." his eyes had darkened and hadn't strayed away from the place they were.

But her anger did not subside.

"That's right!" at her outburst, his eyes finally met hers. "With your... with all your deducting skills, you should have been able to see right through my sister's case! But... Why...? Why?!"

Conan was startled when a pair of hands latched into his shirt. Haibara had collapsed into her knees, letting the tears she had fought for many months to come out, along with a heart wrenching cry that ripped away from her throat.

For a moment, the little boy was reminded of himself, nearly half a year ago, when he had broken down in front of his friends. When he had been confused, lost, shaken. When he didn't know what had happened to his brother, or if he had been alive either.

But it was definitely different for this girl. She had just lost her sister. The same sister he had watched die. The same sister he hadn't been able to save.

For that reason, he did not say anything. He just stood there, quiet and silent, holding her shoulders as she sobbed and howled against his chest, not caring in the sightless if her tears were straining his shirt.

* * *

As it had been expected, Ran was furious when he came back home the other day, giving him the longest and sternest lecture he had ever heard in his life, which he just accepted, with his head low, hoping not to anger her anymore.

Conan ended up grounded for a month and a half, but it wouldn't have bothered him much if she hadn't confiscated all of his books as well. Of course, being grounded implied him coming straight home from school, therefore putting most of the Detective Boys' activities on hold.

His brother had even laughed at him when he found out he was grounded. "_Just be glad she didn't decide to use just to use her karate on you instead," _the high school detective had said.

"_Oh, yeah? I'm sure you know a lot about getting karate chopped by Ran-neechan."_

On top of that, the floppy they had been looking for arrived one week after Hirota's murder. It turned out there was a computer virus called _Night Baron ─ _now the kid was sure he would never find the strength to finish his father's book after that ─ inside the floppy and had erased every single piece of data.

Including all programs on Professor Agasa's computer. The old man had cried for days.

Because of all that, by the end of his sentence, Conan had been frustrated and terribly _bored._

So, when he was finally allowed out, to see a soccer match with his friends, the child had been thrilled. When Hide from the Spirits scored a goal, he jumped up and down from excitement.

Then he heard a chuckle from behind. His good mood died down instantly when he noticed Haibara, sitting behind them with glasses and a magazine on her hands.

"What's so funny?" he asked, a tingle of annoyment coating his voice.

"Even a great detective becomes a normal child when faced with his love of soccer."

"I'm not a great detective," he raised an eyebrow.

"Yet," she flipped a page, but did not look up. "In a few years, you will most likely became just like your mystery-obsessed, murder-magnet brother."

"And what do you mean with 'normal child', anyway? You're a child too."

She giggled at that.

"Yoshida-san told me all about it," she looked up from her magazine to look at him, a smug smile on her lips. "It took them a long time to get you into Kamen Yaiba and everything children our age like. Talk about forgetting you're a child."

Conan rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he decided to let the topic go. "Why are you here, anyway? You're not even watching the match."

"I just came to hang out with you, guys. Though I have changed my appearance a bit, my face is still the same," his annoyed expression turned serious when she had suddenly changed into that subject and went back to her magazine. "If by chance any of the TV cameras broadcast my face on-screen, they'd discover me right away. And if that happened, your brother would be at risk, too."

Haibara looked up, confused, when she felt her sunglasses leaving her face and something was placed on top of her head. Instantly, her hands went to the blue hat she had been forced to wear, completely speechless.

"You're standing out a lot more with these," he said, referring to the sunglasses he put back on his pocket. "It will be harder to see your face like this, so you should be safe even if they get a shot of you."

To say that Conan was amused to see the ever-sarcastic scientist unable to say anything in reply would be more than an understatement. With a gentle smile on his lips, he took her hand and dragged her with the rest of the group.

"Believe me," he then told her, with a reassuring tone. "Everything will be better if you just allow yourself to enjoy life."

Haibara's expression did not change, yet it seemed like it had worked somehow, because she decided to stay there, watching the match.

And for a moment, none say anything, eyes focused on the soccer ball. It wasn't until a bit later that Haibara caught him glancing at her, thoughtfully.

"What?" she almost hissed, not even looking back at him. Conan was startled at being caught, then composed himself.

"Ah, it just that..." he hesitated for a moment. "When I gave you my hat I couldn't help but notice... Is that your natural hair?"

She smirked. "What do you think?"

"But that other time it was black..."

"That was a wig," she replied, then turned back to the match, thoughtful. "Ever since I can remember, Onee-chan told me to use it. 'You never know when you need to hide, so it's better to hide one's real appearance', she would always say."

"That's tough," he said, and she shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm used to it."

Even if the conversation had died there, Conan's mind did not stop running. In reality, that wasn't what he had wanted to ask.

_Why was Onii-chan drugged with the Apotoxin-4869?_

_What was he doing at that time with Vodka and Gin, a year ago?_

_How exactly is he involved with the Black Organization?_

But he lacked courage.

Even if he wouldn't admit it, even if he convinced himself that it was that he still couldn't completely trust Haibara, even if he was supposed to be a young detective, Conan was deeply afraid of hearing the truth.

And that was a fact.

Even if he wasn't, he still wouldn't be able to ask. His blue hat was flown off Haibara's head by a strong breeze, just in time to see the ball, standing still in front of them, jumping suddenly.

Like so, the Detective Boys were dragged into another case.

* * *

At some point of the investigation, Conan lost sight of his friends. When he asked Haibara, she told him they had happily gone back inside once she told them they could do that if they showed their tickets.

To her surprise, he didn't panic. He just sighed, tiredly, and dug his badge from his pocket. Calmly, he told them to not do anything risky and call him back once they got a clue.

"You seem to trust them a lot," Haibara commented once he was finished.

"Of course I do," he replied to her, an annoyed expression already on his features. "They are my friends."

"Oh?" she chuckled. "Then I bet you can tell them _everything._"

"They already know about the Black Organization and my brother's case, if that's what you mean," he replied. "I didn't tell them about you, though. That's not my call."

"You're unexpectedly nice, Kudo-kun," Haibara teased, which was answered with an irritated scoff.

Then her eyes adopted a slightly sadder, darker glint as they looked away. Conan, observant as the child was, noticed it right away.

"They wouldn't hate you, even if they knew," the girl looked back at the boy, clearly surprised. "You're not a part of them anymore. Besides, Ayumi-chan already thinks Sherry isn't a bad person because, at that time, she let me go without telling anyone."

Ai seemed to compose herself right away, but her fist had yet to stop clenching. "Do you, though?" then, with a smirk, she asked him. "I noticed you still don't trust me, even if we have known each other for over a month now."

The girl saw his emotions flashing behind his eyes in a swift moment. Fear, doubt, sadness and compassion, all conflicting with each other and refraining the young boy to speak.

Finally, he closed his eyes, and she couldn't tell any longer.

"I do," unexpectedly, he replied with an outstanding certainty. "I do trust you, Haibara-san."

* * *

After a scary, close encounter with a loaded gun and a missed shot of his tranquilizer dart, the criminal was found and taken away, with a soccer ball print on his right cheek as a departing gift from the child.

Everything ended alright, yet the three children were still upset. They all sighed, in unison, as they stared at the soccer field, completely empty.

Conan and Haibara, on the other hand, were pretty much relieved it was all over, not giving the fact they had completely missed the match another thought.

"Figuring out the culprit's motivation with so few clues," the girl smiled beside the boy. "Well done, Kudo-kun. I starting to find you a rather fascinating subject for study, even more than your brother."

The girl didn't miss the way his eyebrows furrowed together, mouth open to say something but closing soundlessly. After a pause, the boy sighed, and looked away.

"I pass, thank you," he replied, tonelessly. "I'd rather not become a lab rat and get poisoned by an unknown drug created by a seven year-old."

"That was rude and terribly hypocritical. We're the same age, if you failed to notice," she seemed to be more amused than offended, though. "Well, it's not like I intended to make a poison."

Conan blinked. "You didn't?"

"I didn't," she confirmed, a more serious expression adorning her delicate features. "All I told you about the Apotoxin-4869 were the side effects. Its true purpose is..."

Haibara paused, dramatically so, prompting Conan's eyebrow twitch. Yet, he refused to tell her to hurry up, because experience told him it would just make it worse.

"Eternal life."

For a moment, none said anything. The child was about to tell her to knock it off, when he noticed a smirk on her face. "Wait..." his eyes widened. "You're serious."

"Of course I am," she pretended to scoff, when in reality she thought his reaction did not let her down. "When the individual reaches twenty years of age their aging process will drastically slow down. It's a experimental one, so it doesn't stop it. But it's still quite a magic drug, isn't it?"

"Stupid, magic doesn't exist," Conan sighed, then focused his eyes back to the empty soccer field. "Even so, to think that something like that is actually a thing..."

"Now that's out the way, will you finally ask me?" that, the boy truly didn't expect. "You've been wanting to ask me something for a while now and I know for sure it's not about the Apotoxin-4869."

He suddenly quiet, deadly silent as he seemed to think over her words. His mouth opened and closed, as if a fish out of water, while he struggled to put his thoughts into words. Finally, he let out a long sigh, pausing for a moment.

Fists clenching, he gave her a very serious and determined look, before taking a deep breath.

"Why... Why was my brother targeted by the Organization?" finally, the little detective asked. "What exactly did he do?"

For a few seconds, which felt like hours to him, Haibara did not reply. While she didn't say anything, he felt his heart pound harshly against his chest, and his shoulders trembling slightly without fully meaning to.

"That's... something hard to explain, actually," she finally said. "I believe it will be best if you figure this out for yourself, Kudo-kun."

"What...?" the lack of an answer certainly didn't make him feel any better.

"Don't worry, though, I'll give you a hint for you to start on."

She began to walk away, yet the boy did not move. Passing by him, she whispered something on his ear.

Then, the girl told the rest of their friends that it was time to go, yet Conan still was frozen in place, mind somewhere else, lost among his own thoughts. He barely felt Ayumi taking his hand and leading him away the stadium, and he didn't realize they were walking until they all stood in front of the building that read '_Mouri's Detective Agency._'

Conan didn't even wave back when they all said goodbye and headed back home. He didn't even note Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi giving him a worried glance from over their shoulders as they went around the corner.

All he could pay attention to were the words, that the small scientist had uttered, ringing on his head, over and over:

"_Singani."_

* * *

A/N:

Akuma-Heika: Sorry, I can't answer that question! It will probably be answered in a later chapter.


	22. A Bad Feeling

**File Twenty-Two: A Bad Feeling**

The word that Haibara had uttered the other day had yet to leave his mind. Not only it refused to leave him alone, it also repeated over and over to the point of driving him up the walls. He had already looked it up in the internet and, predictably so, he only found that it was the national liquor of Bolivia.

_Singani._

It should be obvious that it was a codename. A member of the Black Organization who, somehow, was deeply connected with his brother's case.

_Maybe he messed with this 'Singani' character and was drugged because of it... _

Or, perhaps, Shinichi was...

Conan shook his head, mentally berating himself for even having these kind of thoughts ─ there was absolutely _no way_ that could be true. _He... Onii-chan is not like that._

He scrolled down for hours, yet he didn't find anything particularly relevant. He should had already expected it ─ certainly, such a strong criminal syndicate wouldn't let their names turn up just by typing a member's codename on the search bar.

_Seriously, what did you do, Onii-chan? _he couldn't help but wonder. _It's not like I can just go and ask him. He wouldn't tell me anything and just hide the truth._

He paused, finger freezing on mid air as a thought suddenly struck him.

_Back then, he really didn't want me to know he was riding in the same train than Ayumi-chan and the others, _he remembered. _Why is that...? Ah, could it be...?!_

Immediately he scrolled up, searched for the Touto Circular Railway and looked up the stations.

_Shinjuku, Shibuya, Toshima, Haido, Chiyoda, Nerima, Ekoda, Arakawa, Taito, Minato, _he read every place, and groaned. _There's simply no way I could check every single place by myself!_

As as he was about to throw the phone against the wall, overtaken by frustration, the device started to ring on his hand. Blinking twice at the name in the display, he picked up.

"What do you want, Hattori-san?"

* * *

"Over there is the Tenouji river. There is the Osaka Dome. And were we are in Tsuuten Tower."

Conan looked away from the prismatics and let Ran have a try, before staring at Heiji, who was still pointing to popular places, both ignoring as Kogoro grumbled ─ he truly didn't want to be there.

It had taken him almost an entire day to convince Ran that this was a good idea ─ even if it was Heiji's ─ but it seemed like it had been worth it. The girl was smiling, clearly enjoying herself as she got a nice view of the city.

That wasn't the reason why he had insisted in going, however. Even through Conan really appreciated the free tour through Osaka, there was a strange feeling he still couldn't exactly pinpoint.

For a moment, Kogoro turned around so he could have a smoke. Taking advantage of the lack of attention they were receiving, the child walked up to Heiji.

The teenage detective almost tripped when a little hand suddenly latched on his sleeve and dragged him away. When they stopped, he looked down to meet very annoyed eyes behind thick glasses.

"What is it?" the child whispered at him. "Did you find something about what I asked you about?"

Hattori laughed, awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "I have nothing about that guy," he confessed. "I went to the hospital already, but nobody knew anything, so..."

"Then, what the hell are you up to this time? You know well enough my brother isn't going to magically appear at your side just because I'm here, right?"

"Nothing really," Heiji blinked, then crouched next to him, so they could be on the same height. "But I'm definitely telling Ran-neechan you are being unusually rude today. Ever heard about respecting your elders?"

"You thought I was seventeen, Hattori-san."

"It's Heiji-niichan to you."

Eyebrow twitching slightly, the boy fought his urge to shoot an anesthetic needle at him and managed to control himself. "Hattori works just as fine," noticing the annoyment on the child's eyes, Heiji laughed nervously.

"Hey, what's wrong with you today?" the kid shook his head, and seemed to take a deep breath. For some reason, he could tell Conan was especially irritated today. "Did something happen-?"

"Sherry got transfered to my class."

"... What?!"

Paying no further attention to the confused, and very surprised, detective, the little boy shrugged and walked away, joining Ran without any word.

Yet Heiji stayed on his place, gaping at the air.

* * *

When they sat in the car, the hesitant look Ran sent his way was more than enough to realize that they shouldn't have let Hattori organize the tour.

"You were right, Ran-neechan," whispered Conan, with a sigh, so the Osakan detective couldn't hear him. "Maybe Hattori-san isn't quite right in the head."

As it turned out they were going to drive around city in a _patrol car._

"Alright," oblivious about the three passengers' feelings, Heiji smiled widely. "Where do you all want to go to?"

"Home," replied the child, with all honesty.

Secretly, the other two were currently thinking the same thing.

"Don't be like that, Conan-kun," the Hattori complained. "This will be fun, I promise!"

_Somehow, I doubt it._

"Don't tell me..." Kogoro started to yell at him, angrily. "Don't tell me our tour of Osaka is in this car!"

"What? You don't like it? This is the newest model."

Probably because he knew this would be a lost battle, the adult just glared at him, before resting his back in the seat, looking away yet irritation still present on his eyes.

"I feel like a criminal..." Ran commented at some point, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks as she watched the people turning around on the other side of the window, staring inside the car with curiosity.

"Don't let it bother you! You haven't done anything illegal. You can sit in it proudly!"

Conan gave him an unamused look. _Befriending Hattori should be illegal._

* * *

At least the food had been good. Like, _really _good. Even if a bit different to what they were used to eat, the udon had been delicious. But what really impressed the boy were the takoyaki ─ much bigger than what he had ever seen in Tokyo.

Ran never stopped looking over her shoulder, however. She had said she felt like someone was watching her.

And they didn't find out who it was, until they arrived at another shop to have some hotcakes. Heiji had left to give his mother a call, after telling the cook to not forget his rice.

It had weirded out the trio. Conan and Ran were commenting on that, when a girl promptly sat on the spot Heiji had been a few seconds ago.

"Ah, that's our friend's..." Ran tried to say.

But she completely ignored her, resting her elbows over the counter, cradling her head with her hands. "You must be Kudo," the girl said.

That startled the three of them, and automatically Kogoro and Ran's gazes were on the little child, who could only gape in confusion. He even flinched when she looked their way, with a knowing look.

"Heiji talks about you a lot," she added. "Someone just like you."

_Please don't tell me she is also going to say I'm him..._

"Hattori-kun did?" Ran asked, the tip of her lip twitching upwards. She wouldn't be surprised if Hattori somehow convinced this girl about that crazy theory of his.

"Don't play dumb, I already know exactly what happened," then, to everyone's surprise she leaned over the little boy and yelled into Ran's face instead. "You must be that girl Heiji talks about. The girl he met in Tokyo! That Kudo girl!"

They all blinked, cluelessly.

"Wait..." Ran tried to get her to see reason. "You're wrong..."

The other girl just smirked.

"I can tell you something right now," she stood up, and tried to give Ran a very intimidating look. "I have always been friends with Heiji and in the past with a bond of steel! If you want to make a move on Heiji, you have to go through me first!"

Conan blinked twice at her. "Wow..." in spite of it all, he couldn't help but be surprised. "I didn't expect Hattori-san to have a girlfriend."

Then, the girl turned her attention away from Ran and directed it to the clueless boy. He saw her starting to stammer, denying it with all her might, cheeks tinting redder in embarrassment, which only got worse when Heiji finally appeared and asked what was wrong.

Heiji had a good laugh when he was told that Kazuha ─ that was what the girl was named ─ believed Kudo was a girl, and Conan decided his brother wouldn't find it as funny as the older boy.

"Don't let it bother you, Kazuha-san," the child pipped in, cutting Hattori's laughter short. "At least you got the age right."

The girl in question blinked, cluelessly. "What do you mean?"

From behind her, Conan could see Hattori furiously shaking his head, pleading him not to say anything, and it would have worked for any other child with a compasive heart...

Too bad Conan didn't have one.

"Hattori-san genuinely thought _I _was Kudo Shinichi," he grinned, then turned to Ran. "Right, Ran-neechan?"

With an awkward laugh, Ran nodded her head. The other girl just stared at them, with a confused expression, before turning back to her friend. The way he was looking anywhere else but her face, clearly embarrassed, let her know that fact was none other but the truth.

Naturally, Kazuha exploded in laugher. "Heiji, I knew you were stupid but not _that _stupid!" she said, between breaths. Hattori just tried to shrink away from sight, knowing well enough that his childhood friend would never, _ever, _let this go.

"Shut up," he tried to defend himself. "That kid is weird."

"Is that so?" she turned to glance at Conan, who just blinked innocently at her ─ Hattori glared at that lying bastard that knew far too well how to use his appearance in his advantage ─ before kindly smiling at him. "He seems to be a cute little child to me."

"You have no idea..."

Kazuha rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter how weird a child can be, you said Kudo was in high school. How did you even think...?"

"Hattori-kun thought Shinichi had shrunk, somehow," Ran pointed out.

Like so, Kazuka burst out laughing again.

This kept on by several hours, even after their food had came. When it did, Conan had simply started eating his hotcake, caring far too little about the killer glares sent his way to do anything else.

"Hey, what was all about?" at some point Ran, the ever romantic type of girl, asked with enthusiasm. "What did you mean with the 'bond of steel'?"

They explained to them that, when they were children, they had stolen some handcuffs from Heiji's father's desk, and got stuck together for an entire day, so they had to do _every single thing _together. Kazuha even kept the link from the handcuffs on her omamori.

"And despite all of that... you're not together?" Conan asked them.

Both of them looked straight at him, blushing furiously.

Now, Kazuha was seriously reconsidering her view of Conan as a 'cute little child'. Heiji, on the other hand, was too busy blushing to even think of telling his _definitely-not_ girlfriend something along the lines of _I told you so_.

"I already told you, little boy," Kazuha smiled at him ─ even if the kid could see she was forcing it, and probably wanted to kill him. "Heiji and I just grew up together. If you have to call it something, I'm his big sister."

Conan raised an eyebrow at them, while Ran only smiled widely, totally engrossed into their relationship. They then, for some reason, started arguing and the child couldn't help but remember another certain pair, that also was incredibly in love, and in denial.

"Why is everyone like that?" the child said to himself, as Ran talked with Kazuha and Heiji, while they went back to the car. "Isn't love supposed to be, like, just a bunch of chemical reactions? Is it that hard to admit it?"

Kogoro paused when he heard that and gave the kid a long look, who stared back at him with curious eyes. For some reason the man started laughing, which annoyed the child a little bit.

"You'll know when you're older, brat."

With that, the adult walked away, leaving a very confused Conan behind. He would've pouted right then and there, but settled with an annoyed groan before heading back to the patrol car as well.

Once inside, the group started to decide where they were going to go next. That was it, however, until they felt a loud sound and the car bouncing violently.

They were horrified when they saw the dead body with the knife stabbed on his chest, through his pocket, that had fallen from the sky to the car they were in.

* * *

Forced by Conan, Heiji ended up telling everyone what was going on. Apparently, there was a serial killer going around, and the only thing in common between the three victims was that they had been strangled, then stabbed through their wallets, and through their chests.

There was no relation between the victims, at least until Sakata ─ a detective that had been touring them around Osaka with Heiji ─ appeared and showed them an old video he had found. They saw an old footage of Goshi Sotaro, an assemblyman that had been caught in a scandal, while he was taking away in his car, surrounded by paparazzis and interviewers.

The secretary was trying to push them away, and they recognized him as Nagao Hidetoshi, the first victim. Noyasu Kazuto, the driver, was the third one.

Now, Conan wasn't amused at the sightless when Hattori, without any warning, silently plucked him up from the hood of his shirt and hid him under his jacket, but he didn't complain. At least this way he would go along.

Once Hattori sat on the car and zipped open his jacket, he popped his head out and took a deep breath, startling Sakata a bit.

"This kid here helps a lot," Heiji explained to the man, and Conan gave him a sheepish smile, before going to the backseat.

"But won't Mouri-san be worried about you?" Sakata asked, hesitant.

"It's okay! I will call him later."

They had decided to check on Okazaki Sumiei's apartment ─ the woman they had seen driving away in a rush on the crime scene ─ so Sakata called her. After picking up, she immediately pleaded for help, as she suspected she was the next victim.

"Please calm down," said Sakata, with a firm voice. "I'm coming right now, lock your door!"

Conan looked towards the window and mentally cursed. "We've just passed the building!" he told them. "You need to turn back, Sakata-san!"

"I can't," he told the child, with a frown. "There's so much traffic, we won't make it back."

Suddenly, Heiji opened the door, startling the other two.

"What do you think...?" Conan said to the teen, incredulously.

"It'll be faster if I run."

The child gave the heavy traffic a long look. "You can't be serious..."

"Watch me," the Detective of the West smirked.

Before jumping off the car ─ which had thankfully stopped when the boy had hinted he was going to do that ─ and running across the street. With a sigh, the child did the same, dodging cars going their way and shouting apologies to the angry drivers.

"Geez," the kid said to the teen once they were safe on the sidewalk, as they kept running. "Do you want to get us killed or something?"

"You followed me, kid. It's your own call."

"Aren't you supposed to be the responsible adult here?"

"Never said I was."

* * *

Her body had been found on the community bathroom, and it had confused the boys, leaving them unable to understand why would she leave her room when she had been told not to.

Later, then they checked on her apartment, they had found two recorded messages, allegedly from the killer. The first one had been to make her go and witness the previous murder, and the other one was to intimidate her, and tell her she was the next in line to die.

The first one had been made at 13:08 and the second at 13:10.

Conan's eyes had not left the phone ever since, and that caught Hattori's attention. Once noticing the puzzlement of the older boy, he explained.

"Two minutes," he simply said, and Hattori immediately understood. "It's like the killer had complete control... I've got a bad feeling..."

Immediately after saying those words, Heiji's eyes opened widely. The child turned to the older boy, blinking his eyes as he tried to comprehend what had made him turn as pale as a ghost, and had caused him to shake like a leaf.

Before he could ask, however, Heiji composed himself and tried to shrug his worries off. He wasn't entirely convinced, but he figured he would ask later.

Hattori was strangely quiet throughout the car ride back from Okazaki's apartment, as he stared at the rear view mirror with a rather pensive look. He was so deep in thought, he completely missed Sakata trying to talk with him.

Eventually he snapped out of it, letting Sakata tell him what he had wanted to say. Both boys' eyes brightened with realization when he said that they found something else the victims had in common.

Their driving licenses had been pierced through their wallets.

Through further investigation they discovered that all four victims plus Goshi and the wanted murderer Numabuchi Kiichiro were in the driving class.

The day they graduated was also the day an instructor ─ Ineba Tetsuji ─ died in a drunk-driving accident.

Conan felt his blood running cold at that.

* * *

"Conan-kun!" at the familiar voice, Conan stopped on his tracks. Sure enough, with her hands on her waist and a stern look on her face, stood Ran. "Why did you disappear all of sudden?"

The child flinched.

"I'm sorry," he tried to apologize with a sheepish smile, even if he was slowly stepping away from the older girl. "I was going to call, but I kind of forgot..."

"What do you mean you forgot?!"

Hattori couldn't help but let out a small laugh at that. He found amused that this kid wouldn't blink an eye at the sight of dead bodies and bloody crimes , yet he would cower away at the sight of his sister figure when she was angry and ready to scold him, like any other normal child.

He frowned. Yes, even if he was unsettlingly smart and bright for his age, Conan was only seven. And this case was related with a serial killer. If he kept hanging around him like that...

"_Conan-kun! Conan-kun, hold on!"_

The scene he had seen in his dreams last night played itself in his mind, again. The knife stabbing into the little chest. Ran screams as she held the child, holding his stomach while he rolled and cried in agony. Out of breath. In incredible pain.

So, when Inspector Otaki told him they were there to take the kid home, he didn't protest. Even when the child did, Hattori just decided to take him away for a second and kneel down in front of him.

He had to be the adult here.

"Leave this case to me," he said to him. "It's getting late. Children should be in bed already."

Conan let out a dry chuckle as he crossed his arms across his chest. "And what if I don't want to?" he said, defiantly. Hattori, however, found it funny. He had never seen Conan acting like a petulant child before.

"You will have to answer to Ran-neechan then."

Settling with a low growl, he gave up. Just as he was about to leave, Heiji stopped him, so he watched with curiosity as he slid his hand inside his shirt and pulled something out.

He was shocked when an omamori, which resembled the one he had seen on Kazuha a lot, was placed around his neck. "Hey, Hattori, this isn't really necessary..." he managed to say, as the teen tucked it inside his shirt.

"It's okay," Hattori said. "Just make sure not to lose it. I want it back, you hear?"

"I'm sure you do," soon, there was a teasing grin on his little face, shifting his eyes to look somewhere behind Heiji. "Because someone you hold very dearly made it specially for you, right?"

Judging by the blush on the detective's cheeks, Conan knew he had just hit the nail on the head. "I wonder if you know who I'm talking about, considering you didn't even turn to look," the kid continued.

"Give it back," Heiji held his hand to him, with a very annoyed expression on his face.

"Nope. I'm going to sell it."

"Go ahead, it's not like you're going to get much from it."

"It depends, do you have fangirls? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't any considering, you know, _you._"

"Hey..."

Just as they were talking, Kazuha had felt someone staring at her, so she glanced that way. Blinking confusedly, she only noticed the child talking with Heiji about something. It only puzzled her more.

"Is something wrong, Kazuha-chan?" Ran asked when she noticed her weird behaviour.

"It's a bit weird," she commented. "Usually, Heiji is terrible when it comes to children. So, seeing him getting along so well with Conan-kun..."

"Well, it _is _Conan-kun. He's a bit different from other children," Ran giggled at that. "You know, I'm pretty sure that boy wants to be a detective when he gets older."

Kazuha smiled a bit at that, then looked at the pair again as they started to walk back towards the group, even if the child didn't look so pleased with that. He kept silent throughout the entire ride, almost as if he was sulking, even when Otaki had to turn back because they had found the criminal's car.

The child was so quiet, that nobody noticed him gone until Ran turned to talk to him, only to find the spot next to hers empty.

All of that lead to Inspector Otaki staring at the young boy that had come along without anyone noticing, eyes fixated on the wood cabin. "He's inside," he told then, notchantly.

"Boy, where did you come from?!" Otaki yelled, in surprise.

"The car," he replied, before pointing at the bin. "Look there. There are a couple of receipts that might catch your eye, Inspector."

True to his words, it seemed like everything had been burned, besides various pieces of receipts from a convenience store, including one from that day and another for a few days ago. Nobody would eat some many bentos, and eat one every single day.

"But, boy," Otaki smiled at him. "The criminal would be seen if he went to the store."

"I never said it was the criminal," Conan pretended to blink, innocently.

The inspector understood the implications after a few seconds, so he immediately ordered his undermen to enter the house. Even so, it was the young boy the one to find the trap door in the ceiling. Luckily, the inspector was able to convince the child to get back to the floor, and to let them handle it alone.

Numabuchi Kiichiro was found, chained to a pillar, begging for food. So, they handcuffed him and began to take him away.

Ran arrived at the place, just in time, running his way before falling into her knees. After checking if the boy in front of her was alright, she let out a long sigh, and placed her hands over his shoulders.

"I thought I told you not to run around, Conan-kun," she scolded him. "You worry me."

Conan opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't say anything. It was all too fast for to accurately tell what was going on, but one second Numabuchi was on the floor, after allegedly having tripped and the other he was running straight for Ran, who was blocking the exit, with a knife in hand.

It was because everything happened so fast that Conan didn't have time to think. Purely out instinct, the young boy jumped in front of the girl, and he felt the pain, as well as the air knocked out of him.

Conan barely noticing Ran's arms holding him as he curled around his stomach, which hurt so much that he thought for a moment that he had, indeed, been stabbed. It wasn't until a few seconds that he began to recover, then he realized he had somehow been saved.

"Conan-kun!" Ran kept calling his name over and over, obviously worried. "Conan-kun, hold on!"

"Someone call an ambulance!" he heard Otaki yelling.

It was then that Conan realized he was making an scene, so he forced himself to sit up. "I'm fine," he struggled to smile in an attempt to reassure everyone. "It's just a scratch."

But Ran was still unconvinced, so she quickly lifted his shirt the nasty wound he was definitely going to have. Instead of that, something fell and hung from the boy's neck.

"An omamori?" she blinked.

"Ah," he realized what she was talking about and held the amulet on his hands. "It's Hattori-san's omamori. He let me borrow it, so it must've protected me."

Kazuha just gazed at the child, a bit surprised.

"Heiji did...?" she mumbled.

He felt around the omamori, and his eyes opened, with curiosity. Then, he opened it, only to get surprised at the sight of a tiny silver key that had been hidden inside.

It was at that time that Conan understood, not only how he had been saved, but also what was that weird item doing inside.

* * *

Heiji had been shot when trying to save Sakada, the criminal, from suicide. Everyone was worried that was the end of the detective's life, and it wasn't until he pulled a dramatic scene where he closed his eyes, prompring Kazuha to cry over his body and the other three to gasp in shock, then suddenly waking up and yelling at them for not letting him sleep ─ apparently, the boy hadn't been able to have some sleep when planning their tour through Osaka.

This scene had been finished by Kazuha resting her weight on the wound, giving him a world of pain thereafter. _Angry women are scary, _Conan had decided.

Which leaded him to the current predicament. Conan was sitting on a chair beside Ran, watching as Kazuha and Heiji, who was in a hospital bed, shouted at each other for yet another silly reason. Ran was sweatdroping, smiling awkwardly at the couple.

But Conan was quiet. Kazuha's heart wrenching sobs when she thought that Heiji had died were still stuck on his mind.

"_Why... Why would you do something so dangerous?"_

"_Because causing the criminal to commit suicide through a deduction... is not a good idea..."_

The child frowned, taking out the omamori he still had with him and giving a long look as it rested on the top of his hand. His fingers curled around the amulet, tightly.

"You know," Heiji's voice caused the boy to flinch. "That's actually mine and you haven't returned it yet, you pint-sized thief."

His eyes glanced around the room behind his glasses, blinking confusedly when he realized they were all alone. "Where did Ran-neechan and Kazuha-san...?"

"Kazuha was so fed up with me that Ran-neechan decided to bring her along to buy some drinks. Probably would have punched me in the jaw if she didn't save me," Hattori gave the kid a weird look. "You were right there and you didn't notice?"

"Guess I didn't..."

He must have been too inside his own thoughts not to realize that something like that had happened, right in front of him, he mused.

Hattori was grinning at him, yet the child couldn't bring himself to. "Why did you give this to me?" instead, he asked. "It seemed like you needed this more than I do."

There was a long sigh, and the detective's eyes drifted to the window. The sun was setting already, which meant that Conan and the others must leave for Beika soon. "I had a bad dream the other night."

"Bad dream?"

"You were stabbed," Conan's eyes went wide at that. "And I thought you had died, because Ran-neechan was calling your name so loudly and desperately."

The child shrugged. "That isn't that far from reality," he realized. "I did receive quite a big blow by that killer. Wasn't stabbed by chance."

It wasn't by chance, actually. But it wasn't like he was going to tell him about the key Kazuha had hidden inside the omamori ─ he had promised to the distressed and equally embarrassed girl he wouldn't say a word about it.

So, instead of that, he stretched his hand and gave the omamori back to the teen, who gazed at it for a moment with a rather tender look on his eyes, before setting it back on the little table beside his bed.

Chuckling a bit, the teenager laid on the pillow. "I guess sometimes dreams can be easily misinterpreted, huh?"

Conan's head perked up at his words. _Misinterpreted? _he repeated on his head, and suddenly, his brother's gun appeared on his mind again. His index finger and thumb went to his chin as he thought over it, for a moment.

"Hey, kid?" Hattori frowned, noticing the boy was thinking intently about something, and went to sit up, quickly. "What's wro-? Ouch!"

At that whine, Conan looked up. The teenage boy was hissing, pressing his hand against his wound, as his face cringed due to the pain he was experiencing.

The child stared at him for a few seconds, before he frowned, concern filling his features.

"Hattori," he called, softly, causing Heiji to look back at him with a curious look. "Will you... Will you be okay?"

The Great Detective of the West just stared at the boy, taken aback by his words, rendered completely speechless. He then realized he must have kept silent for a bit too long, considering the way the kid had focused his glance to the setting sun in the window, clearly uncomfortable, and shifted a bit on his seat.

He did look back at him, startled, when a hand landed on top of his head, messing with his hair a little bit.

"Don't worry," Hattori said to him, with an amused smile. "Heiji-niichan will be okay."

At the sight of the brilliant, and very shocked, blue eyes fixing on the ground, probably due to embarassment, and the tiny nod the kid gave, Hattori could only grin wider.

Sometimes, just sometimes, this little boy could be a bit cute.

And it wasn't only Hattori. Behind the half-closed door, a pair of girls smiled at each other as they huddled together to see.

* * *

A/N:

GhostDespair: You know, I can't really answer that lol!

ajjr12: I'm not completely sure about it, but they probably will be a little more involved with the Black Org plot. Maybe not that much because they are normal children, but yeah.

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Yeah, that's basically it. Haibara, just like Conan, is seven and an extremely intelligent child in this story.


	23. Deduction Queen Sonoko

**File Twenty-Three: Deduction Queen Sonoko**

Morning found little Conan splashing water on his face. He had woken up a few minutes ago, drenched in cold sweat, after having the same nightmare ─ yes, _again ─_ and glanced at the clock, only to realize it was only four in the morning.

Conan raised his head, his small pale face staring back at him and closed his eyes. He still could hear the click of the safety unlocking, see the muzzle on his face, feel his chest contracting.

"_I guess sometimes dreams can be easily misinterpreted, huh?"_

He opened them again and frowned slightly, thinking about Heiji's casual words over and over again, standing silently still. Only the sound of the water rushing could be heard in the quietness of the night.

His hand went to his left shoulder, and squeezed.

* * *

It had been an ordinary day of July at Ekoda Hospital, and the receptionist sat behind the desk as usual with a satisfied smile on her face. She had just gotten to her spot after a very fulfilling break and a nice cup of coffee, feeling more than prepared for anything that life threw at her face...

At least, until _he _arrived. As soon as her eyes fell on the dark skinned teenager appearing behind the glass door, she had sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted and in need for another _long _break.

"I thought you have given up already..." she lamented, leaning her cheek against her open palm. "Hattori Heiji, right?"

Heiji only grinned, widely, as he leaned against the counter. "I had a bit of a trouble and couldn't come here for the last few days. Got shot in the stomach," the receptionist he was talking to merely rolled her eyes. "But now I'm back to business."

She let out a puff of breath, feeling irritation fill her entire body as she stood up. The woman was so annoyed, that she didn't even bother to wave back at the kind doctor passing by.

"Good, then let me tell you this, _again,_" her eyebrow began to twitch, causing the doctor to send a curious look their way. "Watanabe-sensei died more than seven months ago because of an accidental fire."

The receptionist didn't notice, however, the way Hattori's eyes sharpened, and slowly moved to the doctor beside him. He could've sworn that, for less than a second, the man had flinched, before pretending that nothing had happened and disappearing into the hallway.

"... There's absolutely nothing suspicious about that," she continued. "So, I would be very grateful if you didn't bring this up again and stopped bothering everyone with-!"

"Okay, I understand!" he interrupted with a bright smile, which only confused the poor worker. "See ya!"

She could only blink, confusedly, as the teenager sprinted away. Not feeling in the mood to tell him that running in the halls was certainly not allowed, she dropped back into her seat, figuring that somebody else would soon scold him for her.

Right now, all the tired worker needed was another cup of coffee... And for her damned shift to be over.

* * *

"Huh, that's odd," Ran commented as they walked through the forest. "The villa should be right around here..."

Conan refrained himself from sighing as they walked, looking around for a moment ─ he could've sworn they had already passed by that tree around three times already. "Say," he asked with a grimace, fearing what the answer could be. "Could it be that we're lost?"

The girl visibly flinched at that. "No, not at all!" she tried to pretend everything it was fine. "W-We're just taking the scenic route."

"Which means we're lost."

"... Probably."

The kid shook his head, before rushing to a nearby tree. "What are you doing?" asked Ran, confused, watching the child latch into the lowest branches and pulling himself up. Once she realized he was climbing, she panicked a bit. "Get down from there, Conan-kun! You can get hurt!"

He didn't reply until he was in a higher position. "It's okay, Ran-neechan," he assured her, and started looking around. "I won't fall."

"But...!"

"Ah, I see it!" he suddenly exclaimed. "We were going in the wrong direction."

Only once Conan was safely back in ground did Ran release the breath she didn't know she was holding. They resumed their walk after that, this time around guided by the little child, until they reached a bridge. Looking closer, they noticed a man, in a peculiar black cloak, crossing it.

"I wonder if he's going to the villa too," Ran wondered out loud.

"Yeah, I think he is," Conan nodded.

When he turned around, glaring at them with a cold, murderous look, causing them to freeze in fear. His face was all covered by bandages, and the child couldn't help but shudder at the memory of that other case that also involved a bandaged man.

He looked away and continued his way, running this time around, disappearing from their sight.

"... I-I wonder if he's going to the villa, too..."

"M-Maybe not?"

Finally, they reached the villa and Ran knocked on the door. Not long thereafter, it opened, revealing a very irritated Sonoko behind. "You're so late, Ran!" she complained. "What were you doing?"

"I'm so sorry, Sonoko!"

"I go to the trouble of inviting you to my family's villa and then you show up late!" her gaze fell on the little boy and her shoulders dropped. "So you brought him, after all."

His eyebrow twitched a bit at that comment.

"Conan-kun, take a hint sometimes," she said to him.

"If I didn't come along Ran-neechan would have no other choice but to spend the night out in the woods," he told her, deadpan, before walking by her. "Why you trusted her, of all people, to come here alone with only a map is truly beyond me."

"Conan-kun!" Ran shouted at him.

Both girls watched the child shrug and welcome himself inside without waiting for Sonoko to do it instead. Ran sighed a bit, while Sonoko's eyebrow raised.

"That brat isn't cute at all," the Suzuki girl decided.

Once inside, Sonoko told them their room was upstairs and eventually they reached it, only after Ran accidentally opened every single door and witnessed every single male residenciding in the villa changing clothes.

Conan sighed. It wouldn't have hurt to knock before entering.

* * *

A very annoyed Heiji was currently walking through the halls while ignoring the curious glances the nurses were sending his way. He had lost sight of the doctor in that big hospital, and he didn't think he was going to find him soon.

"This is the last time," his ears perked up at that. "I'm definitely not doing that, you hear me?"

It seemed to come from behind the door he was just passing by, he realized. He was about to continue going his way, when another voice said.

"You better do as I tell you," the voice was calm and collected. "Or something bad will happen to you."

Upon hearing that sentence, which sounded terribly like a threat, Heiji focused his attention to the door and realized that this particular room should be unoccupied. Whoever was in there might not be a patient, he realized.

After glancing around to make sure that nobody was around, he rested his hand against the knob and, gingerly, opened it just a slit. Cautiously, he peeked through the partly open door and saw them.

The doctor from before was talking to a teenager, who wasn't older than Heiji himself. There wasn't anything particularly distinguishing about that character besides his brown hair, that barely reached his shoulders, and his dark chocolate eyes.

"Ah, is that so?" the doctor scoffed at him. "So, what do you think that will happen to me if I don't?"

"Death, definitely," the teen assured him, eyelids sliding close with a tired sigh. "Your loved ones' demise, most likely."

"I don't have a family, kid. You already know that."

His eyes opened and gave him a sharp look. "That nice lady at the reception desk," the doctor winced at that. "I saw you two sending looks each other a few days ago. And should I mention that both of you seem to have your break at the very same time, when you two completely disappear from everyone's eyes until your shift starts?"

The man was stunned, if the way his mouth opened and closed was something to go by. It took him a couple of seconds before he could compose himself again.

"I'm not leaving Momoka alone," the doctor's fists clenched. "I promised her that!"

Sliding his hands inside his pocket, the teenager said nothing as he let his head drop, and turned to the door. Instantly, Heiji moved away in order to not get caught, relieved that they hadn't crossed looks.

However...

"Say, Tanaka-sensei," he heard the boy say. "Didn't you close the door when you came in?"

Hattori flinched at that. _Say you didn't. Say you didn't. Say you..._

"Of course I did."

_Damn it._

He heard a gasp from the other side, and that alone was enough to send him into a anxiety attack. Whipping his head from left to right, he searched for a place to hide. He cursed, finding nothing and hearing the sound of footsteps nearing closer and closer.

So, he did the first thing his panic-addled mind thought was the best idea. Hattori slipped into a random patient room, and leaned against the door, sighing in relief.

That relief vanished instantly when he looked up. The patient bed was already occupied and a pair of blue eyes were blinking at him, confusedly. At the sight of his face, Hattori couldn't help but freeze, shock filling him all over and making him forget about his previous fear.

"K-Kudo?!"

The puzzlement on this person's expression did not disappear. "... Uh, what?"

"What are you doing in a place like this, Kudo?!" Heiji rushed to his side, looking all over him. His leg was in a cast, as well as his right arm. His head seemed to be wrapped in bandages. "And how did you manage to land yourself in a hospital?!"

"... Who are you again?"

"Eh? Don't tell me you forgot about me already? I'm-"

"-Hattori Heiji?!"

Both boys directed their attention at the person standing on the doorway. There was a girl, who reminded Hattori of Mouri Ran an awful lot, with a stunned expression on her face. "You're him, right?" she asked further, stepping inside, a grin present on her face. "The Great Detective of the West, Hattori Heiji-san?"

Before he could say anything, the boy beside Heiji spoke up. "Aoko!" he shouted, annoyed. "Tell this detective my name is not Kudo!"

"Kudo? As in Kudo Shinichi, the Great Detective of the East?" she then looked at the boy that resembled Kudo an awful lot. "Wow, now that I look at you, you _really _look like him."

"Aoko!"

"Yes, yes, that idiot over there _definitely _isn't Kudo Shinichi," she said with a sigh. "As if Bakaito would actually fit in the shoes of such a great detective."

"Speak for yourself, Ahoko! You can't even say my name right, can you? It's Kaito. _Kaito._"

"But Bakaito fits you a whole lot better."

Hattori blinked, then shifted his gaze to the doorway when he heard a loud sigh. He panicked for a moment when he met eyes with the same guy from before, until Kaito spoke up.

"Oh, finally," it was then that Heiji realized the boy standing in the doorway had a can of orange juice on other and a canned coffee on the other. "Where did you go to get those? China?"

The guy pointedly ignored that and went to the girl, handing her one. "Here you go, Nakamori-san."

The girl in question smiled at him, with a nod, before the boy opened his and gave a long glup, ignoring as Kaito complained about getting none.

"By the way, I think we haven't met yet," Hattori flinched when he turned his attention to him. "Are you Kuroba's friend?"

"Oh, no, no," he shook his head, forcing a smile. "I just went into the wrong room and I was about to leave," he turned around and went to the door. "Sorry for the intrusion!"

He closed the door behind him and let out a shaky sigh as he rushed through the halls, ignoring the chill running down his back. He could have sworn that guy had sent a suspicious look his way just before he left.

Hattori left the hospital right after that, figuring it would be best if he continued his investigation another day.

Preferably, when that suspicious ─ and most likely dangerous ─ guy wasn't around so he could interrogate the doctor in peace.

* * *

"I can't believe Ran. She already has Shinichi-kun!" Sonoko frowned under her umbrella, as they watched the girl and Oota Masaru ─ a member of Sonoko's sister's college movie making club, and the guy Sonoko had wanted to make a move on ─ taking a walk. "I guess I'll just have to go after Shinichi-kun."

Conan could've laughed at that, if the mental image of his brother and this particular girl together wasn't scarring his mind enough. "Why am I here, anyway?" he complained. "Isn't dangerous to be out there in this storm, anyway?"

"Come on, brat, aren't you a bit annoyed at least?" she said to him. "That's your brother's wife. You should be, like, their biggest shipper by now."

"Even if I was their 'shipper', as you put it, I'm not a stalker," Conan sighed, audibly, as his gaze fell on the couple walking in the rain under a single umbrella. It seemed like Ran truly didn't want to be there. "Besides, I saw plenty of Ran-neechan's karate on my brother and I definitely don't want to be in the receiving end of it."

Sonoko was about to point something out, when he noticed that Conan's attention was somewhere else, mouth open in disbelief. She was shocked when she saw Masaru leaning forward, closer to the lips of a hesitant Ran.

A thunder suddenly stuck nearby, blinding everyone for a moment. When it disappeared, both Conan and Sonoko looked up, still a bit shaken because of it.

"T-That scared me!" the girl commented. "That thunder was really close just now, wasn't it?"

"Truly surprising," Conan rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have expected a thunder to strike in a terrible storm like this one."

"What do you meant with that, brat?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot you're missing a few brain cells, causing you to become unable to understand a child half your age."

"Half my age, and a quarter my height, you four-eyed midget."

"And probably twice your _mental _age, considering your brilliant answer just now."

Sonoko opened her mouth to spat something back to the little brat, when she noticed something. "Eh?" she blinked. "Where are they?"

"Huh?"

Conan turned to look and noticed they were gone. Just as he was about to stand up and look for the girl that had surely gotten lost, they heard a scream.

Ran's scream.

They arrived at the scene, just to find Ran on the floor, and the bandaged man from before raising an axe far above his head. Luckily for all of them, when he saw that they had company, he ran away from their sight.

* * *

Ran lied on bed, gaze focused on the ceiling, unable to sleep.

A lot had happened after the mysterious bandaged man had tried to kill Ran in the woods. They had been getting everything ready for dinner, when Takahashi ─ the ex-handyman from the club who was fixing the rooftop ─ suddenly screamed, terrified, and claimed there was someone outside.

They hadn't realized what was going on until something passed by the window. It had been the bandaged man, carrying Chikako ─ the screenwriter. Conan and the other three males had ran after him, only to find her several body parts scattered through the forest.

A soft whimper drove her out her thoughts and prompted her to look at the bed beside her. Her gaze softened and, with a resigned sigh, she got off her bed, only to sit on the other one.

"Shh, it's alright," brushing his hair away from the boy's face, the girl shushed him. "It's just a bad dream, Conan-kun."

It pained the girl to see the child like this.

Mostly because she knew it wasn't the first time ─ she had heard him walking around the house in the middle of the night and stay in the bathroom for hours.

Also, because she _knew _these weren't just childish nightmares with things like darkness and monsters that most kids would have ─ even if Conan had refused to tell her, she could only imagine what these dreams were about. The kid had been surrounded by death ever since he was born, so stuff like this was bound to happen, she supposed.

His brilliant blue eyes blinked open, then shifted to Ran's figure. She smiled sweetly at the sleepy confusion pinching his face. "Ran-neechan...?" he slurred tiredly, once he began to become aware of his surroundings. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"I was already awake," she shook her head. "I was having trouble sleeping."

At that moment Conan would've pointed out that she was scared, if it wasn't terribly hypocritical from his part. Ran hadn't been the one having nightmares up until ten seconds ago.

Then Ran slid inside his bed, taking the young boy by surprise. Yet, he said nothing as the girl rested a hand behind his head, gently pressing his face against her chest. "Everything is okay," she assured him, whispering on top of his head. "I'm here for you, Conan-kun."

Without fully meaning to, he found himself relaxing against the older girl, and his little hand lazily latched on her shirt. He allowed his eyes to close and his breathing to slow, as well as his always running mind, lulled to sleep by the sound of her heartbeat.

His rest was short lived, however, when the cold summer breeze caressed his cheek, awakening him from his light slumber. Drowsily, the child looked up to see someone standing at his bedside. At the realization that it was a bandaged man, gripping his axe between his hands and readying himself to cut Ran in half, the child gasped, wide awake now, and quickly kicked Ran away from danger.

Conan honestly didn't know if he was supposed to feel impressed, disturbed or full-out panicked when Ran, after falling into her own bed, slept right through it.

The attacker merely glared at him, before turning back to Ran. _Why is he trying to kill Ran-neechan?_

The child, fearing for her life, screamed her name, but she wouldn't wake. Impulsively he threw himself to the man, clinging into his waist before he was thrown away. Conan felt the air knocked out his lungs when he hit the wall, and his ankle twisting painfully due to the impact.

But he paid no attention to it, more preoccupied to the killer walking closer to the girl. Looking around for something, _anything_, he came across his bowtie and, without thinking about it twice, he turned the volume up full blast.

"WAKE UP!" he yelled.

And if that didn't wake every single soul on the villa, Ran's terrified shriek after she woke up to see the killer right in front of her face did. Soon after that, Sonoko was banging on the door, demanding to know what was going on.

Similar to what had happened earlier, the man fled. Conan wanted to go after him, but a wave of pain shot through his ankle when it couldn't stand his own weight.

* * *

"You need to solve this case, Sonoko-neechan."

The girl's head snapped to the child sitting on the bed, raising her eyebrows as if he had just gone crazy. Ran had rushed to get the first aid kit for Conan ankle a few seconds ago, and the others were still looking around, trying to understand what had happened.

"Hey, kid, did you hit your head or something besides your ankle?" she placed her arms on her waist and leaned forward, closer to him. He didn't even blink. "What makes you think _I, _of all people, would make a good detective?"

"Not a good one, but the only one available."

"What did you say?!"

Conan sighed, feeling annoyment seeping his energy away.

"Look, I'm not happy with it, but right now you're our only option," he told her, a very serious expression adorning his features. "Right now, Ran-neechan, you and I are the only ones that can't possibly be the Chikako-san's killer."

"Eh?!" Sonoko was alarmed. "Do you think he's one of us?!"

The child gave her a blank look, before turning to the window. There was a hole close to the safety lock, which had prompted everyone to think he had sneaked inside from the outside. "It's pouring rain outside," he explained like an adult to a child, rather than the other way around. "You would think that the floor should be covered by mud if somebody came in from this weather."

"That's right..." Sonoko realized, wide eyed, before turning to the child. "But shouldn't Ran be more fitting for this job? I mean, her father is a great detective and all..."

"Right after we arrived Ran-neechan accidentally opened the door to every single room," Conan turned to the three men currently inspecting the room. "She saw all three of them changing clothes."

"... Ran did?"

"She must have seen something, and the killer wants to silence her. His guard must be up around her. You, on the other hand..."

Sonoko didn't say anything, hesitating for a moment, as she gazed at the bed Ran and Conan had previously been sleeping in. The mattress had been slashed cut. Hadn't Ran been saved on the nick of time she would have...

Sonoko didn't want to finish that thought.

"Sonoko-neechan," the girl's eyes met with the child's determined ones. "Don't you want to protect Ran-neechan?"

And frowned, determination filling her features as well, nodding her head. "But you better help me with this, pipsqueak," she pressed her index finger against his chest. "You're not leaving me alone in this, understand?"

"... Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

On their way back they found Sonoko's sister with Chikako's choker, claiming that she had found it close to the front door a few hours ago. The kid had pondered over it for a bit, until he felt himself being hoisted up, rather roughly.

Conan shifted uncomfortably on Sonoko's back. "Hey, you better not drop me," he huffed, irritably, then squeaked when the girl adjusted his weight, violently. "On a second thought, let me off. I can walk by myself."

"Don't be stupid, brat. You have a sprain, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I don't want a concussion on top of that."

"You little-!"

Ran, who was walking beside the bickering duo, smiled awkwardly. "It's okay, Sonoko," she tried to calm her friend down. "I can carry him instead."

"There's no way I'm letting this brat burden you when there's a killer on the loose targeting you," Conan tried to ignore that comment for the sake of his own sanity. "How are you going to use your karate with him on your back?"

Just as they were saying that, they reached the living room and Sonoko set the child down on a chair beside them. "By the way, Ran-neechan," he spoke to her. "Why didn't you beat him up when he attacked you?"

"That's because I'm scared of things like ghosts and monsters..." she blushed a bit as she said that.

Oota smirked, standing up from his seat and walking around the table. "You don't need to worry," he placed a hand on her shoulder, and the girl flinched away at the contact. "There are six of us and only one of him. No matter how scary he is, if all six of us team up-!"

He then hissed in pain when something hit his shin, hard. The girls looked down to notice that Conan was also in the floor, cradling his injured feet, and realized he must have kicked him.

"Do you even know how to count? There are clearly _seven _of us!"

"Little brats don't count!"

"Pushy idiots don't either."

"What did you-?!"

"You can't say that," Ran argued, clearly ignoring what Conan had shot back at the man. "When I was attacked, he did his best to protect me. Thank you, Conan-kun."

Conan smiled at Ran, sweetly, before sticking his tongue at him when the girl had turned around. Sonoko, who had seen all of that, just sighed before raising him from the floor and setting him on top of her lap.

"Say, Ran," she decided to begin her detective work. "When you were attacked, did you get a chance to see his face or anything?"

"Not really..."

"I know something about him! I grabbed around the stomach so I know his figure now," Conan chirped, then held his arms up. "It was around this size. He wasn't very skinny, or very fat either."

Sonoko blinked twice, before leaning closed to the child, an irritated expression on her face.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me anything about this?" she whispered to him. "Wasn't I supposed to be the detective today?"

"I thought we could get the culprit to have a reaction out of it," he shrugged. "But either the culprit is quite a good actor or..."

"Or that description isn't accurate enough to be worrying, huh?" Sonoko pondered. "Geez, this is giving me a headache."

Thunder struck suddenly and, with that, all lights were gone. For a moment, all the people in the room looked at each other, only to realize that the darkness that surrounded them didn't let anyone see a thing. Because of that Ayako ─ Sonoko's sister ─ decided to go get some candles on the kitchen. Ran soon offered to go with her, so she wouldn't be alone.

Conan was about to say that he also wanted to come along, when he felt himself raised into the air. "Alright," he heard Sonoko's voice from above his head. "We're coming along as well."

Unsurprisingly Ran was attacked on their way back, yet this time around she reacted on time, spinning around and giving a powerful kick at the attacker.

The axe snapped in half, falling squarely their feet, and the killer disappeared into the darkness. Like so, the four found themselves completely alone, even after the lights had come back.

When they arrived back at the living room, they found the window of the second floor completely broken, covering the inside of the building in shattered glass. Sonoko leaned closer, holding the child tightly against her chest, and gasped. "One of the doors is unlocked," she said to the kid, and he nodded. "Why?"

"Maybe he wanted to pretend he came from the outside, when he was actually inside."

Letting his words sink in, the girl hesitantly stepped outside, where the men were looking for clues ─ they had come into the conclusion that the culprit had climbed a tree and then jumped on the veranda ─ when Conan's eyes fixed on another random spot.

There were a pair of grooves in the veranda. Sonoko failed to see how was that relevant.

"Say, Sonoko-neechan," the child looked up, blinking innocent eyes at her. "If you wanted to kill me and carry my body around, how would you do so?"

The girl winced at that, and stared at the boy with a weirded expression on her face. "Why would I do that?" she seemed to be a bit irritated, and disgusted at the prospect. "I think you're really annoying, but to the point of _actually _killing you..."

"It's an hypothetical question. Just answer it."

"Geez, you're weird, kid..." then, she pondered. "I'd probably carry you in a big bag."

"That's too suspicious. Think harder."

"Umm... Considering you're so small, I would probably hide you inside my jacket or something... But that would make me look like I have gained a few pounds so suddenly so..." she trailed off, eyes widening dramatically. "... Oh."

The kid smirked, as he noticed her eyes travelling to the mark on the veranda, with a shocked expression on her face. "But, it it was there... How did he...?" she then sighed, laughing a little to herself. "That's impossible. No matter how fat he pretended to be, he wouldn't just be able to carry Chikako-san's body around."

She watched the kid placing a finger on his chin, as he seemed to be thinking. "Now that I think of it, wasn't it weird?" he wondered out loud. "Her body was completely covered in a black cloak, but she was wearing normal clothes when we found her body parts. Why would the killer put it on her?"

Her eyes opened widely at that, her gaze flickering at the culprit for a moment, before releasing a deep breath. "You look like you know who the killer is, don't you?" Conan questioned.

"I-I can't do this," she argued. "I'm not Ran's father nor your brother. What if I'm wrong?"

"Even if she gets out of here alive, the criminal isn't going to stop there," he told her, with crude honesty. "What would you do if one day Ran-neechan is found lying dead on her room, with her head severed from the rest of her body?"

He noticed Sonoko shivering at the thought, and he couldn't really blame her, since that mental image made him sick on the stomach. But he figured Sonoko needed this.

Her grip on him tightened and took a deep breath before heading back to the living room.

"Everyone, can I please have your attention?" she called, loudly, setting the child on top of the table. "I figured out who Chikako's murderer is!"

Even if she was puffing her chest out and sneering at everyone, confidence in her entire posture, the kid could see the girl was terrified. And there was little reason not to, her best friend's life went with this, after all.

Instead of saying anything about it, Conan settled on watching the girl give out her deduction show, exactly the way he had thought she would. By the end of it, she had correctly pointed Takahashi as the culprit.

"The evidence are the two marks on the veranda railing left by the piano wires," she glared at him, genuine anger showing on her eyes. "You're the only one who could've done something like that! The one who used to make sets during college for the movie making club!"

"S-Stop playing around," he tried to laugh it off. "Then what did I do with the body after I supposedly pulled it up?" he turned to the others. "When we were looking for Chikako I wasn't carrying a body, was I?"

"Y-Yeah," Hiroki nodded.

"Then what about the choker, huh?!" she yelled at him. "My sister found it next to the front door. And when she was taken, Chikako-san still had it on her neck. That means someone carrying her body passed through there!"

"Like I said, I didn't have anything in my hands," at this point, Takahashi was beginning to sweat, nervously. "There's no way I could've carried her body without anyone noticing."

Sonoko smirked at that. "What about her head?" then everyone gasped at that. "We didn't see her body because of the black cloak covering her body, right?"

"That's absurd!" he yelled at her. "Why would I kill Chikako?! Why would I have attacked Ran-chan?! A-And..."

"He's right, Sonoko-neechan!" she blinked, surprised, when Conan pipped in. "It couldn't have been him," then he smiled a bit. "Haven't you been listening to me when I said the killer wasn't fat?"

"Huh?" she looked at him, strangely. _What's that brat trying to do?! _she wondered, worrying a bit, until his eyes seemed to open behind his glasses and turn to the killer with a curious look.

"Why didn't you say anything about that, Takahashi-san?" he questioned. "You could've been easily discarded as a culprit."

Takahashi froze on place, and only then did Sonoko understand his intention.

"Well, Conan-kun, that's because," she looked at the killer on the face. "He's not overweight at all."

With that the truth came to light. Seeing no way out, he finally confessed having brutally murdered Chikako in the forest before chopping her in pieces. All of it was because of Tokumoto Atsuko, their beloved friend and member of the group up until her suicide. It turned out it was all because of Chikako, who had stolen her ideas and became a famous screenwriter due to that.

"It's all over. Everything is over," then, in tears, he let the dummy he had used fell into the floor, revealing his true body complexion. He then revealed a knife, which he tightly held on. "I'm going to join Atsuko."

Sonoko paled at that, instantly jumping back as he started to wave the blade around, so nobody would come closer, before pressing the pointy end to his own chin.

"I-I'm going to spend eternity with Atsuko a the messenger of justice who avenged her death!"

"Are you stupid?!"

They all turned to the child, including Takahashi, who flinched at the very dark and angry look that little Conan had on his face.

"When you attacked Ran-neechan, was it for Atsuko-san's sake?!" the criminal's mouth hung open at that. "You didn't. It was because you were scared of becoming a murderer! That doesn't make you a messenger of justice, just an ugly murdering monster hungry for blood."

There wasn't anything Takahashi could say about that. Just dropped into his knees, tears soaking the floor. The knife was left forgotten at his side.

* * *

"It's good news that your sister is doing alright now," commented Ran, as the three made their way back home from school.

"It's really good news," Sonoko agreed. "She stayed in bed for a week after all that."

"But it was all solved thanks to your great deduction, Sonoko!" the girl elbowed the other, with a grin on her face. "It was cool seeing you act like a detective!"

When Sonoko smirked, arrogantly, Conan realized it had been a bad idea to ask her, of all people, to solve the case.

"What can I say? If i'm involved, then that type of case is open and shut! Shinichi-kun and your father can't compete," she laughed so loudly that a few passerbys stared at them, weirded out, before continuing their way. "The time has come for the Deduction Queen Suzuki Sonoko!"

Conan raised an eyebrow at that. _Deduction Queen? _he continued his way, his face indifferent as they crossed the street. _How tasteless..._

A hand suddenly rested on his head, startling him. "There's also this little pipsqueak," he messed his hair, prompting the boy to groan. "He can be a pain, but I guess he makes a decent assistant."

He could practically feel a vein popping up on his head, but he concealed it pretty well by giving the older girl a blank look.

"It felt more like you were _my _assistant, instead."

With that the two broke into another argument.

Unable to stop them, Ran decided to simply sigh and continue her way, pretending she didn't know the pair.

* * *

A/N:

Gamelover41592: Actually, no, it didn't. Some cases will happen in a different order than it did in both manga and anime. Partly because I wanted some of them to make sense in a non-floating timeline, and partly because I thought they would fit there.

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: She probably will, eventually.

Lieutenant Myst: I don't think Gin and Sherry will have the same relationship than in the canon, since Haibara is a child in this story and, you know, it would make it quite weird if Gin had and infatuation with her... And about the Mystery Train Arc, that's a very cool idea! At the moment, however, not even I have a clue what is going to happen, lol!

Dy: Thank you for pointing out that mistake! I've fixed it up, so there shouldn't be any other errors in that chapter (hopefully). About what you said about Hattori, I agree that it probably doesn't add in anything his relationship with Kazuha without Shinichi around, but I wanted to use those episodes to develop Heiji's relationship with Conan, so yeah.


	24. To Do What's Right

**File Twenty-Four: To Do What's Right **

Unlike other children, Conan didn't particularly like going to the beach.

Despite being considered outlandishly smart for his age, the kid could not grasp the concept of '_fun' _that many people seemed to have.

Quite frankly, he couldn't understand why was that most people seemed to enjoy smearing themselves with loads of sunscreen so they could play and relax in a place he could only describe as an oversized oven. Not to mention the sand, that seemed to squeeze itself in every inch of his body and clothes, and that wouldn't leave his shoes until _weeks _after the trip to the beach, if he was lucky.

Besides, Conan didn't truly enjoy showing his body like everyone else did, for plenty of reasons. So, he would end up with weird sun marks on his arms and a soaked wet T-shirt clinging uncomfortably to his torso.

In fact, the only reason he was currently swimming was because Genta had taken into his own hands the task to make him join them on the salty, ocean water. Even if it meant abducting him from his comfortable spot under the shade of the parasol and throwing him inside.

So, yeah, he was pretty much hoping that night would fall soon.

As it was now, however, Conan wandered through the forest of legs and people looking for his friends, that hadn't had a better idea than to play hide and seek in the water.

Sighing, loudly, Conan tried to wring out some excess of water on his shirt, but no avail. Not that it wasn't expected, since one of the many drawbacks of swimming with his clothes on was that they weighted much more when soaked wet.

"I wouldn't have taken you as the shy type," Conan turned around to give Haibara an annoyed look. "Well, considering you like giving others the credit for you brilliant deductions just because you don't like the spotlight, it shouldn't have come as a surprise."

"What did all of that come from, anyway?" the boy questioned, looking away from her and starting to walk, having spotted Ayumi by the corner of his eye just a moment ago. Haibara followed.

She didn't say anything, just motioned with her head to a random group of slightly older boys playing volleyball, their chests in plain sight. "Most boys take that off before getting into the water."

"Most girls hide when playing hide and seek," Conan pointed out, and she shrugged.

"And those who are not playing do not hide, Kudo-kun."

He barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes, as kept looking around. The little girl had distracted him, and now he didn't know where Ayumi was anymore. Had she just hidden underwater or something?

"Ayumi-chan!" by the corner of his eye he noticed an older girl spinning around when he shouted his friend's name, and momentarily wondered if she was also called Ayumi or something like that. "I have already spotted you, so come out!"

"Oh, isn't that Conan-kun?"

It wasn't until he heard his name being called that he really took a better look at the teenage girl, and was shocked to see Ran standing right in front of him, a beach ball in her hands and a very surprised look on her face.

"Ran-neechan?" Conan blinked, only then noticing that Sonoko was right beside her, and his expression went numb. _Right, Ran-neechan said she was going out with Sonoko-neechan._

"Hey, why is that little brat here?" she complained when she saw him, an eyebrow raised. "Geez. The reason we didn't bring him was because there are always cases when he's around!"

The rest of his friends were gathering around him at this point, probably deciding that satisfying their curiosity was far more important that remaining hidden, especially when the seeker was doing anything else but seek.

Conan mirrored her expression and opened his mouth to shoot something back at her, but he stopped when he noticed something that caught his attention. Haibara was staring right at Ran, with a cold, blank look, which was pretty similar to the ones she had given him when they had first met.

When she frowned, Conan realized there probably was something he wasn't understanding.

As the children engaged in a very cheerful conversation with the two girls, Conan noticed Ai slipping away from the crowd and starting to walk towards the shore. She noticed the curious look the boy sent her way.

"The water is freezing cold," the girl told him. "I'll go warm myself a little under the sun."

"It's like over thirty degrees here," Conan raised an eyebrow at her.

Ai paused at that, but didn't even say anything at him. Even so, the boy watched, silently, as the girl just stood there, her back facing him.

"Maybe I'm actually a cold-blooded snake in the body of a beautiful girl," she finally said, in a soft voice. When Conan blinked, taken by surprise at her words, she turned around and gave him a flat look. "I'm just joking."

"Oh."

With an exasperated sigh, the girl walked away, and Conan watched her sit in the sand right in front of them, before shrugging and going back to the rest. It was a bit disturbing, to say the least, the way she seemed to stare at them with a pretty blank look he couldn't hope to understand.

_She really loves that look, doesn't she?_

He didn't notice, however, Ran turning around and glance at the little girl, with a concerned look on her face, before returning to the group.

Around twenty minutes later, Conan was standing beside Agasa back in the shore, looking at Haibara, who was laying under the parasol, covered in wet towels to cool her down. Clearly, she had sunstroke.

And they wouldn't have realized she had if it wasn't for Ran, who noticed she hadn't been feeling well from the spot she was in and carried her to the shade.

Said girl came to them with a bucket filled with water and ice she had collected from other people in the beach and passed it to Agasa. Then, with a worried expression, she leaned over Haibara.

Who didn't even react to it.

"Is Ai-chan okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, her temperature is going down, so she should be fine soon," the professor reassured her.

"I'm glad," Ran sighed, then smiled gently at the little girl. "Next time, don't hesitate to tell us if you don't feel well, alright, Ai-chan?"

Haibara didn't reply, but Ran didn't seem to mind and simply excused herself to join the others in the water.

"Professor, would you please get something to drink for Haibara-san?" Conan turned to the older man. "It's important to keep her hydrated."

The older man nodded and went to do as he was asked to. Silence ensued thereafter as Conan just stared at the girl for a few moments, an eyebrow raised.

"What?" eventually she hissed, irritated.

"So much for a cold-blooded individual, huh?" he remarked, sarcastically.

"Even a snake can overheat and die, Kudo-kun."

The boy shrugged, making his way to the bucket with ice and water and took the towel away from her eyes. "Honestly," he sighed, wetting it again.

Haibara remained silent as he placed the towel back on her head, and merely closed her eyes.

"Did you know?" Conan was the first one to break the quietness. "Even if people often believe that snakes are cruel and dangerous creatures, they will always try to escape and disappear if they feel a threat coming," the girl did not comment. "Including humans."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Don't know," he shrugged. "Just a random fact, I guess."

She gave him a long, sharp look, which he returned, before bringing her arm to her head, and covered her eyes with it. "Could... Could you just go somewhere else? I'm very tired."

Haibara wasn't surprised when the child sat on the sand, right beside her, instead. "Are you crazy?" he leaned his back against Haibara's folding chair. "The only reason I was there in the first place was because Genta practically dragged me along," with a grin, he closed his eyes. "So, there's no way I'm leaving when I have the perfect excuse to stay."

She gave him a long look from under her arm then, with a sigh, also closed her eyes.

"Suit yourself."

* * *

"I need to see Tanaka-sensei, please."

Heiji mentally grinned as he watched the receptionist actually listen to him instead of shouting him to get out.

He was pretty glad he had stolen his mother's makeup and powdered his skin a shade lighter, and that he had also actually dyed his hair blue, before going to Ekoda. Sure, he wasn't the most inconspicuous one of the bunch, but at least he wouldn't be kicked off the hospital by this worker, who was more than a bit sick of him by now.

"Please, I _need _to," he made his best to give the impression that he was desperate. "It's my friend... he was Tanaka-sensei's patient and I... he..."

"Is something wrong?"

Both the receptionist and Heiji turned around to see the doctor they had been talking about standing right behind him, a curious look on his face.

"This young man wanted to talk with you, Sensei," the woman was the first one to explain. "He says he was one of your patients and wants to ask you something about him."

"Oh? Who is it?"

Heiji did his best not to flinch. He hadn't thought _that _ahead. Yet, the intense look Tanaka was giving him was enough for him to know that he needed to think fast.

"Kuroba," he said quickly, remembering the weird Kudo look-alike he had seen a month ago. "His name is Kuroba Kaito, Sensei."

The way both the receptionist and doctor winced at the sound of that name threw him off a little, but managed to keep himself in character in a way that would make the Kudo brothers' mother proud of him.

"A-Ah, Kuroba-san?" Tanaka forced a smile. It only made Heiji wonder what had that guy done to traumatize the hospital staff to such a extent. "What about him?"

"It's about his right foot," Heiji remembered, after all, seeing that body part bandaged. "I don't think is completely healed, but he won't listen to me."

Tanaka frowned at him. "Do you really think so?" he seemed to be in thought. "Would you mind coming with me so we can talk it over more quietly?"

Heiji fought not to let his relief show into his face, as he followed him to another, quieter place. He let the doctor guide him to his office and closed the door behind himself.

Only then did Heiji's eyes sharpen. "What do you know?" he said, suddenly, confusing the doctor. "About Watanabe Satoshi-sensei's death."

At the mention of that name, the doctor's expression changed dramatically. Heiji watched as colour drained from his place and his muscles froze in place, mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

"Wha-What are you talking about?" the corner of his lips twitched upwards, struggling to get a convincing smile out.

"Don't play dumb," Heiji frowned. "You saw it, right?!"

To be honest, Hattori didn't actually have an idea of what _it _meant, exactly ─ he was kind of bluffing at this point ─ but, somehow, it worked. There was a look of utter terror on the doctor's face, as he took a step backwards.

"I-I didn't see anything, I swear!" he exclaimed, desperate.

"You better not be lying to me," the doctor gulped. "Now, what did you see?"

"... Please, don't kill me," Heiji's eyes opened at those words, not quite expecting to hear that. "It was an accident. I was on my way home after checking on a patient in critical care that night, and I saw the light on Watanabe-sensei's office on... I-I only wanted to ask him if everything was alright, I swear. He had been so distant lately that I..."

Tanaka trailed off, probably scared to keep talking any further. "Then?" but Heiji needed to know. He needed to talk. "What did you see?"

The doctor took a shaky breath. "I... just took a peek. There was this man with raven black clothes and long, silver hair... But I turned around as soon as I saw him, I swe-!"

A sound of glass shattering filled the room, and in an instant everything had gone silent. Hattori, in quiet shock, watched the man in front of him tumble down into his space, collapsing into his arms without making any resistance. It only took Heiji a glance to the hole in the doctor's temple and the blood staining his clothes to figure out why he wouldn't be talking anymore. Ever.

Because it didn't take a detective to figure out that the man had been shot in the head.

The next few hours went by in a whim. Rolling into the floor to avoid being hit, even if the snipper hadn't made another shot after that, grabbing his phone to call the police.

Hattori had been let go right away, since it was evident the shot had been from a large distance so it couldn't have been him. And he did eventually, after doing everything in his power to figure out who the killer was.

Yet, his deductive skills were not enough.

Because the murderer had disappeared, just like a black cloud of smoke in the middle of the night.

* * *

"Oh, you guys came to have dinner here too?"

Conan looked up and wasn't surprised to find out that Ran and Sonoko had made reservations at the same restaurant they were currently sitting at. At his side, Ayumi broke into a big smile.

"Wanna eat with us?" she asked the girls.

"There's more than enough room for you two," Agasa told them.

"Only for Ran-neechan, actually," Conan gave Sonoko a bored look, leaning his head on his hand. "I've heard that stupidity is contagious."

Sonoko's eyebrow twitched. "Ah, yeah?" and sat right beside him, just to spite the boy. "Well, I'm glad your overall weirdness is actually genetic," she patted him in the head, causing him to groan. "Because I'd be in so much trouble right now, wouldn't I?"

"Careful. I still can bite. And I might have rabies."

"Conan-kun, behave yourself," Ran scolded him, causing Sonoko to stuck her tongue at the boy, childishly, and him to look away, irritated. The other girl, however, ignored them as she looked around. "Where's Ai-chan?"

"She's sleeping in the hotel's room," Genta told her looking up from the menu he was holding.

"She said she wasn't hungry and would pass on dinner," Mitsuhiko explained.

"... Really?" Ran mumbled.

"Oh, what's this?" Sonoko raised an eyebrow at her. "You seem awfully attached to that little girl."

"I just wanted to talk with her. We've pretty much never talked and when our eyes meet, she averts her gaze," in spite of that, the girl smiled as she sat down. "Maybe she doesn't like me?"

Even if he wanted, there wasn't anything Conan could say. He had also noticed the way the young scientist seemed to distance herself from Ran every single time she had the chance, and the weird, cold looks she would give her all the time. Yet, it didn't matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't find the reason why.

If he didn't know better, he would've think Haibara was afraid of Ran. Only that it didn't make sense at all, so it couldn't be true.

The child looked up, brought away from his thoughts as a man in a red shirt walked inside and greeted Sonoko, Ran and the rest of his friends, before asking for the time, claiming that his watch was broken.

"It's 7:12 PM," Ran answered.

"Damn, I came too early..." he sighed, sitting on another table.

"Well, well," Sonoko sighed, opening the menu. "Looks like a fight is going to break out, so let's order quick and eat up."

"We didn't come here to fight. But we do plan to teach that bad guy a little something about the rules."

Conan blinked, cluelessly, as he stared at the man he couldn't recognize.

"Did I miss something?" he whispered to Ayumi.

"Ah, that's right, you were with Haibara-san," Ayumi realized. "That lifeguard scolded us when we got into a boat that was lying on the beach."

"He was going to met with two other lifeguards and another man they didn't seem to like at 8:00 PM," Mitsuhiko added, after hearing their conversation. "Those lifeguards supposed to be fishermen, though."

Ayumi nodded. "That man in red seemed to be blaming him for not being able to catch anything."

At 8:00 PM another fisherman arrived at the restaurant, and informed the one in red that their third friend was going to be late, because he was passing by his father's grave.

In fact, it seemed that all three fathers had died in a big storm, eight years ago.

By the time Nezu Nobutsugu, the third fisherman, arrived ─ it was around 8:40 ─ Sonoko was on their table, laughing and seemingly getting along with the other two ─ Shimojo Noboru and Yoshizawa Yuta.

The three called the other man and somebody seemed to pick up. The sound of the waves, however, was the only thing they could hear until the call was finished, suddenly.

Aramaki Giichi never came.

It wasn't until past 9:30 PM that they found him, lying in the shore, wrapped in a fisherman's net. Dead.

The only thing Conan noticed before Inspector Yokomizo chased him away the body was that the victim was completely covered in scratches, for some weird reason. The inspector supposed they were there because of his struggle against the killer.

Which didn't convince Conan. Defensive marks did not look like that, did they?

Besides, there was also that call. Conan couldn't figure out who had picked up, and why.

They also noticed the boat Conan's friends had been riding in the afternoon, drifting away from them. Once it was brought up, they found an empty bottle of alcohol, a sandal and a button inside, all covered by sea water. They all belonged to a victim.

It only helped making it more suspicious for Conan. If he was the culprit, he would just throw all evidence into the ocean.

It didn't make any sense. But he couldn't figure out the trick either.

"Ah!" suddenly, Ayumi exclaimed, before running right to the ocean. "Geez, even though you aren't supposed to throw garbage into the ocean."

The little boy took a glance at the can floating in the water, turning around because of the force of the waves, and gasped, catching up with the girl.

Instead of picking it up, however, the boy just stood there in the water, watching the can move while the girl went to pick it up, until a strong wave suddenly washed over the shore. Both children lost their balance, and Ayumi stumbled backwards, falling in the sand.

Mitsuhiko and Genta rushed over, instantly. "Are you alright?" the freckled boy asked them, helping Ayumi up.

"Yeah," she reassured them, staring at her hands. "Just a little scratch."

"You should be careful," Mitsuhiko said. "There are a lot of shells around here."

"Huh?" Genta looked around. "Where's Conan?"

"Here," came the annoyed voice.

They looked over the source and were quick to spot their friend.

It looked like Conan hadn't so lucky. Currently he sat in the sand, water rushing all around him, and dripping from his hair and slightly crooked glasses. His annoyment was even more visible when another wave hit his back, soaking him even more.

And the three kids, being the wonderful group of friends they were, laughed at him. His eyebrow twitched more violently at that.

Before standing up and kicking the water, splashing all of them.

"Conan-kun, stop that!" Ran instantly went over to their spot, not failing to notice that the other three children were about to do the same, probably with all the intention to start a water war in the middle of a murder investigation. "Go change, _now._"

The boy shrugged, giving his friends another glare, before heading back to the hotel.

* * *

Haibara let out a big yawn as she watched the credits of the movie she had been enjoying rolling. Pulling herself in a sitting position on the bed, she gave the door a thoughtful glance. _Everyone is so late, _she thought, her fingers going inside the bag of crisp, taking a potato chip and eating it.

Just as she was munching it, the door silently opened up. Haibara tried not to laugh as soon as she saw the child detective standing there, soaked to the bone, while a pool of sea water was formed beneath his feet.

The glare he gave her was enough for her to realize she hadn't tried enough. Not that it bothered her much.

"Don't ask," was all he said as he went to his bag to pick some new clothes.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she shrugged. "Murder case?"

"Yeah. Drowned. Wrapped in a fisherman's net."

"Then, why does it look like you were the one that got drowned, instead?"

A grunt was the only reply he decided to grace her with.

He passed by her in the way to the bathroom, stealing a chip from her bag before she could stop him.

"Thief," she accused him.

"Liar," he shot back. "You should've eaten real food instead of these if you were hungry."

Haibara's eyes went back to the TV prompting Conan to sigh, knowing that he wouldn't have any other answers from the girl when she was like that, and opened the bathroom door, partly-closing it after he was inside.

"What are you so afraid of, anyway, Haibara-san?" he asked her, as he took off his wet shirt.

"That's what I should be asking you, Kudo-kun."

"What do you mean...?"

He heard the door open, causing the young boy to spin around, shocked to actually see Haibara casually leaning on the doorway. "Haibara-san, what the-?!"

"A gunshot scar," she mumbled, unusually surprised, with her eyes wide open.

At that moment Conan realized that, even if he had turned around, his back was still facing the mirror, meaning that the girl could easily see the old scar that painted his left shoulder. With a frown, the boy silently put on his dry shirt, turning around.

From the reflection he could see Haibara's piercing gaze. "It looks old," she pointed out.

"Yeah," simply, he said. "It's more than three years old, I think."

Conan walked towards her, and gently pushed the girl outside before closing the door behind her. For a moment, the girl didn't say anything, standing silently in deep thought, before sighing.

She leaned against the door, resting her back against the cool wooden surface.

"You think?" she asked him.

There was a long pause yet, eventually, he made an affirmative sound. "I don't remember being shoot," he admitted, in a soft voice. "In fact, I can't recall anything that happened in that entire week."

"Were you hurt in the head?"

"No, I wasn't."

Her eyes narrowed. "Repressed memories, huh?"

"Most likely."

Their conversation was left right there, as Conan opened the door and, after giving her an unreadable look, walked out the room. He didn't question her, however, when Haibara decided to come along to the crime scene.

Once Conan was back, it didn't take the case long to be solved. He guided a very hesitant Agasa and made him play the role of the detective, and with his friends they did a demonstration of the crime using only a dead starfish, a sea shell, a basin, sand and some water.

Inspector Yokomizo stared as the sea shell floated in the water for a few moments, until he realized it. "Could it be that boat?!"

"That's right," Agasa nodded. "The culprit first got Aramaki-san drunk and entangled him in the net, before digging a hole and putting him inside. Then, he just had to place a boat on top of the victim. This way, even if the victim did come to, he would be trapped and would ultimately drown," he then frowned in the criminal's direction. "Shimojo Noboru-san, everything went exactly according to your plan."

The culprit tried to argue, but eventually ended up messing it up by mentioning the victim's time of death when he didn't have a way to knowing that. Like so, Noboru fell into his knees, realizing that the truth had come into light.

"Don't tell me... it was for our fathers?" Nobutsugu asked him, shocked.

"Yeah. You should thank me," he replied, with a rather sinister smile. "Eight years ago, Aramaki killed our fathers while at the sea. It took all my courage to kill him."

At those words, Ran frowned deeply, for some reason.

"They went out to bring back Aramaki, who went fishing without paying attention to the storm. But that bastard... He lost control of his own boat due to the waves and ended up hitting our fathers'! Then, after they had fallen into the ocean, he just left all there to die! A sailor who was on the boat with Aramaki confirmed it for me."

"Then, why...?" Nobutsugu felt cold sweat rolling down his forehead. "Why didn't you take him to the police as a witness?"

"He suddenly disappeared," he told them. "When I asked Aramaki about him, he just calmly said 'Do you want to know how to commit the perfect crime? Two people go sailing, and one pushes the other into the ocean. The body's gone and there aren't any witnesses around.'"

The two fishermen gasped at that, knowing well the implications of that sentence.

"Even so," Nobutsugu said. "You still shouldn't have killed him."

Noboru laughed creepily, exactly like someone that had just lost his mind, while his two friends looked back at him, completely disappointed.

"The hell are you saying? I took down our enemy for your sake as well! Even after I took it upon myself to be the sacrifice and summoned all my courage to carry out divine punishment on the bastard... How... How could you say that?!"

While she listened through his speech, Ran bit her lip, "You can't do that," and spoke before she could stop herself. "Courage is a word that gives you the strength to do what's right. You can't use it as a reason to take a person's life."

As if a magic spell had been casted, everything went suddenly silent and nobody dared to make a sound, except for the waves that gently washed over the shore.

With a sad smile the culprit let himself be taken into custody. Calmly, the police left with the murderer.

And Haibara quietly watched the older girl, a thoughtful expression adorning her delicate face.

But it wasn't until the next day, as the sun was setting down, that she decided to act. The little girl stared at Ran and Sonoko, who were quietly chatting in the shore surrounded by the seagulls that were resting in the sand after a long day hunting for food, a wide distance away.

_Courage... _

Haibara took a deep breath, before starting to move forward.

_...gives you the strength..._

They didn't notice the girl coming their way until the seagulls suddenly flew away, chased away from something they didn't know. That was, at least, until Sonoko saw the little child standing behind Ran, with a rather serious expression on her face.

... _to do what's right._

Blinking twice at her friend's look of surprise, Ran turned around and silently watched Haibara, patiently waiting for her to put her feelings into words.

"I am Haibara Ai," finally she said and, stretching her hand at her, smiled kindly. It was only then that Ran noticed she hadn't seen the girl doing that before. "Nice to meet you."

So, she smiled back at her.

"The pleasure is mine," Ran replied easily, reaching towards the little hand and giving her a handshake. "Nice to meet you too."

From his spot close to his friends, who were playing with the seagulls, Conan looked over his shoulder. Blinking twice, he realized what was going on, and a faint smile drew itself on his features.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Probably they will. I haven't thought much about it, though.

Dy: I don't mind at all your reviews, as long as you don't mind this fic being a bit too long lol! For the record, though, Saguru didn't appear last chapter. I didn't even realize it could be read as if he was there, so sorry XD

SapphireRuby24: There will some CoAi and some mentions of other canon pairings in the background (like ShinRan, for example). The main focus on this story, however, is probably going to be the relationship of Conan and Shinichi.


	25. A Deadly Game of Hide and Seek

**File Twenty-Five: A Deadly Game of Hide and Seek**

"If I could, in this world, grasp your love..." Conan mentally cringed as he listened the two kids sitting at his left in the car, and Genta that sat in the front, singing ─ shouting ─ at the top of their lungs. "Watching the dancing lights, I shall not forget... Aa-ah! The mystery is getting solved!"

At that point, the child physically winced. There was a giggle at his right, and he didn't need to actually look to know that Haibara was giving him one of her amused and teasing smirks.

"I doubt you can do better than them," she told him, softly. "I have been told your singing abilities are similar to those of a cat being run over by a truck, at best."

His eyebrow twitched at that. "That's oddly specific, if you ask me."

"Well, Yoshida-san only said you sing pretty bad_,_" she shrugged. "With that, and the way her face twisted at the memory, I could only imagine," Haibara gave the annoyed boy a pointed look. "I think you gave the poor girl some sort of PTSD."

"It's not my fault I was born with my father's genes," he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And my brother sings even worse than I do."

"He sure does," she nodded, massaging her temples as if she was recalling a tragic scene she had been in. "But the fact that your brother sings poorly doesn't make you sing like an angel either, Kudo-kun."

Conan paused. And blinked.

"You have heard him sing," it wasn't a question. "Haibara-san, where did you-?"

"Didn't I already tell you?" she interrupted him. "I'm not telling you anything about your brother until you figure _that _out."

His eyes narrowed and fixed back to the road in front of him. "... Singani..." he mumbled.

"Singani?" the boy flinched when he heard the female voice coming from his left question him. "What does that mean?"

"What's that?" Genta asked from the front seat. "Is it tasty?"

"N-No..." Conan tried to say.

"Many adults say it is, but I don't think any of us would like it," Haibara butted in. "Well, it's not like it matters, because you need to be over twenty to drink it."

_Hey, hey... _the child with glasses glared at her, and she returned it with a smug smile.

"... Alcohol... Sherry..." Mitsuhiko's eyes widened dramatically. "Sherry was also named after alcohol! Could it be that the members of that dangerous organization have alcohol-themed codenames?! Is Singani a member?!"

He cursed Mitsuhiko's sharp mind under his breath.

"Eh?!" both Genta and Ayumi exclaimed.

"Maybe," Conan sighed, not seeing another way out. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Why didn't you say anything?!"

"You're always doing everything in your own!"

The boy simply turned his gaze to the professor, who smiled awkwardly as he quietly drove, doing his best not to get involved in the conversation. Evidently, it looked like Agasa wasn't going to save him this time around.

"Seriously, when was the last time you told us anything about that?" Genta complained. "Wasn't your brother's case the reason we formed our club?"

"You said you wanted to find my missing brother and I have already met him a few times," he pointed out. "So that's pretty much a case closed, isn't it?"

"But you still don't know where he is, right?" Ayumi argued.

Conan clicked his mouth shut, realizing she was actually right about that. Mitsuhiko, on the other hand, seemed to be in deep thought.

"Speaking of Sherry, isn't it weird?" he spoke. "It had been a long while since she saw you, but nothing happened after that."

Haibara turned to look through the window. The boy couldn't help but glance at her for a second before replying.

"Yeah, that's a bit strange," he nodded. "That happened around December and it's mid-October already, so..."

"Ah, that long?" Ayumi was surprised. "I can't believe it's October already... I haven't even planned my birthday yet..."

"But, Ayumi-chan... Your birthday is in March..."

Conan was glad for the random change of topic. His relief was short lived, however, since Agasa looked at him from the rear mirror. "Now that I think about it, Conan," the boy blinked. "Isn't your birthday close by?"

He tried to hide his internal flinching when four pairs of curious eyes suddenly fixed on him. "It's not that close, actually..." he tried off.

"When is it?" Ayumi asked.

"... November 13th."

"Eh?!" Genta exclaimed.

"That's a bit over two weeks from now!" Mitsuhiko pointed out.

"Why didn't you say anything, Conan-kun?" Ayumi frowned at him.

"Because it's not that big of a deal," Conan shrugged. "It's just a normal day, really."

"It's not!" she argued. "It's the day you were born, Conan-kun. And that, alone, is a big deal!"

They stared at each other for a while, until Conan sighed and crossed his arms behind his head, letting his gaze stray to the ceiling and doing his best to ignore Ayumi, who was grinning, triumphantly.

"Do you really dislike being the center of attention that much?" Haibara teased him.

"Shut it."

* * *

It was another mundane day for Kato Momoka ever since her lover left her. Today, she didn't have to work and was free to do whatever she wanted. Maybe she could watch some TV, read a book or two, cook something...

But why was she now, sitting in the middle of the living room, pressing her phone against her ear, letting her tears roll down her face?

"_You know, once I'm free to go, I will pass by your house, is that alright?"_

Hearing all those voice messages she had forgotten to erase, she couldn't help but press her hand against her face, sobbing. His voice, sweet and kind as she remembered only made her heart ache.

_"Everything will be okay, I promise."_

"_Tanaka-san?" _somebody had called him. She blinked at the voice of a young man, she hadn't realized he was there before. "_Inspector Nakamori is calling for you. You need to give your statement."_

Then she remembered that day was the one Watanabe Satoshi had died on the fire. It had been a wreck, and her lover had to stay overnight because he had been nearby when it had happened.

After that, she didn't see him again, for four long months until he appeared again on her doorway with a bouquet of roses. At that time, she hadn't even asked him why he had left, just smiled and kissed him passionately.

The next day, he had disappeared without a trace again, before appearing once more a month later. This had became an habit up until a few weeks after his death. She had screamed at him, telling him that she felt so lonely.

And he had promised he would never leave her alone again. True to his word, he had stayed in her city.

Until he had left her for good this time.

Now, Momoka couldn't stop wondering what had happened. At that time, she had thought that her lover was just shaken because his superior's death, who he admired a lot. That he hadn't had the courage to stay in the same city he had died.

But now...

Come to think of it, she pondered, where had she been at the time of Watanabe's death?

Ah, that was right. Eating on a restaurant a few blocks away... with Tanaka...

_... Wait, what?_

* * *

"Hey!" Conan called, standing up with his arms full of firewood. "I think we have enough. Let's go back already!"

"Yeah!" both Ayumi and Genta pumped their arms in the air.

"Wait, everyone!" Mitsuhiko called. "Come here for a second. I found something interesting!"

The three kids went instantly to the way his voice had been heard and it wasn't long until they found him in front of some sort of limestone cavern. More specifically, the boy was kneeling in front of a message engraved in a rock.

"_Take your steps towards the path of the dragon _

_and you shall be showered by the light of happiness."_

Which, of course, stood right beside an ordinary _Danger! Do not enter! _sign. It seemed none of his friends cared enough about that, since they were all focused on the more interesting one.

"Light of happiness?" Genta wondered.

"It means a light full of joy!" Mitsuhiko told him.

"Could that mean..." Ayumi gasped, and the other two joined her and exclaimed together. "A treasure?"

Conan honestly how did they seemed to always reach that sort of conclusion, yet he paid no mind to that. He just stared at the _To _character that was drawn over the message, and wondered. "What does '_To' _stand for...?" he mumbled.

"To... Tokujyou unagi rice...?" Genta pondered.

"Topaz?" Mitsuhiko did the same.

"Tunnel...?" Ayumi tilted her head, questiongly.

"Tokugawa's hidden treasure," Conan said, with a smirk, before turning back to his friends. "Just kidding..."

Then he realized he was all alone. It didn't take him long to figure out where they went, so he instantly stood up and ran up to the entrance. Sure enough, three beams of light were shining in the middle of the darkness.

He wished he had just stayed silent. But of course he had to say that...

"Hey, hey, you guys!" he yelled.

"Come on!" Ayumi brushed him off. "Just for a little while!"

For a couple of seconds, the boy just watched them go deeper and deeper into darkness, and let out a long sigh. _It's never just a little while, _he lamented and, with a last glance at the very threatening warning sign from before, he decided to just go with them.

If they were going to get into trouble, he figured he might as well be there to help, just in case.

Had he known what dangers lurked deeper in that darkness, the young Kudo would've insisted harder and drag all of his friends in the safety of the sunlight outside.

But as things were now, the four friends were oblivious to those dangers so they went deeper and deeper inside the cave, their watches lighting up their path as they continued walking. At some point, Mitsuhiko spotted a light in the distance.

"Someone's there," he noted.

"Maybe someone else found the treasure first," Ayumi commented.

"Are you serious?" that thought made Genta angry.

So the children were forced to watch him roll up his sleeve and stomp towards the light, ignoring the way Conan called his name, in a feeble attempt to stop him from causing trouble.

Genta disappeared around the corner, only to return not a second later. His face looked much different than a few moments before ─ pale, sweating, terrified ─ and it only made his friends wonder about such an abrupt change.

"A corpse..." he managed to croak.

Mitsuhiko and Ayumi exchanged fearful glances, while Conan frowned deeply, mentally cursing his ever-present corpse magnetism ─ he blamed his brother.

But Genta had failed to tell them about the _living _people he had seen carrying the body away. One of appeared in front of them in an instant, cursing loudly. Conan quickly noticed him pulling something from his jacket. _A gun?! _his eyes opened, widely.

Without thinking about it twice ─ because there was absolutely no time for stuff like that ─ he tackled his friends, who merely stood there, frozen in fear, and pushed them aside.

Pain flared into his stomach, but at the moment he couldn't think much of it. Like that, the little boy gritted his teeth and settled behind the rock, pulling his friends with him, and clamping a hand over a sobbing Ayumi.

So, the four children stayed hidden, just as if they were playing a deadly game of hide and seek.

"What's going on?" both of the man's partners made their appearance.

"Kids!" the man with the gun exclaimed, looking as if he was in the verge of freaking out. "We were seen by kids!"

"Hey, hey..." the one who seemed to be the leader sighed. "Their parents aren't with them, are they?"

"No, just four kids..."

"Damnit, how unlucky," the third one cursed. "When we robbed the bank, our companion's face was seen."

"We thought that killing and hiding him here would get rid of any leads. But kids now?"

Conan frowned as he listened, knowing well what could happen to them if they found them now. So, he struggled to keep his raspy breathing under control, soft enough so they wouldn't know where they were.

"In any case, go find the kids," the leader ordered, pulling out something that reflected the little light inside the dark cave, which Conan identified as a handgun right away. "We're going to make them sleep for all eternity in this dark cavern. After placing a hole in their heads, that is."

His friends' eyes went wide, in horror, but at least refrained themselves from gasping. Conan remained quiet throughout it all and watched them going back to the entrance. Only when he made sure they weren't around, he pulled his detective badge out.

"Haibara-san, can you hear me?" he hurriedly called. "Haibara-san! Give me a reply! Haibara-san!"

Yet she wouldn't reply. With a groan, he slumped against the rock and cursed inside his head over and over.

Then, he began feeling faint, and the spot that had been hurting before felt as if it was in fire. Hesitantly, he moved the hand that was pressing against it and took a look.

He wished he hadn't. His hand, clothes, _everything_ was stained with his blood. Even Ayumi's back had gotten red without her noticing.

_Okay, this can't be good._

His friends had started discussing with each other, but he felt himself having trouble focusing in their words. Gasping as if he had been running for hours, the boy closed his eyes shut, struggling to compose himself.

"I bet Conan-kun will think of a bright idea for us!" he did catch Ayumi reassuring the other two boys. "Right, Conan... kun...?"

The way the girl had trailed off and the other two gasped told Conan that they had all seen the sorry state he was currently in. Because of that, he clenched his wound with his already bloody hand and managed to crack his eyes open.

"C-Conan-kun," Ayumi's eyes were watering.

"What's with all that blood?" Mitsuhiko paled.

"Did the bullet that guy just fired hit you?" Genta asked, concerned.

Had he been in a different circumstance, Conan would probably have sarcastically pointed out the obviousness of the situation and the stupidity of their questions, but he chose not to say anything and slid his hand inside his pocket, looking for something.

"Conan-kun, if we don't run soon, those bad people are going to come back!" Ayumi said, doing her best to hold back her tears.

"W-Wait," he managed. "Sooner or later, the Professor and Haibara-san will come to this cavern... We need to let them know that this place is dangerous... or else..."

"But what can we do?" Genta asked.

"This," he finally pulled several transmitters and put them on a shocked Mitsuhiko's hand. "I don't have... time to explain. Do as I say!"

Like so, Conan guided both boys as he tried to catch his breath, leaning tiredly against the rock, a worried Ayumi at her side. Once they managed to get the message across ─ the number 110 ─ Conan set his glasses on the ground, earning three confused looks from his friends.

They didn't get to ask, though. Their confusion turned into panic at the realization that the wounded boy was standing up, with difficulty.

"Conan-kun!" Mitsuhiko was the first to react, rushing to him as the Conan struggled to keep himself upright. "What do you think you're doing?"

"We need to go, now," he breathed out, glancing towards the way they had came in. "If those men catch up with us..."

"But Conan-kun, your wound..." Ayumi tried to reason.

"Acting so tough," Genta scoffed, before turning around, his back facing his injured friend. "Come on, I'll carry you."

But the boy did not move, just chose to look away with a frown on his face. For a moment, the three looked at him, cluelessly, wondering why he was doing that.

"If those criminals start chasing us, my weight on you will make it more difficult for you to escape, Genta," Conan explained. "That's why..."

His friends got angry, for some reason, as they listened to those words.

"Do you really think I would leave you behind?" Genta sounded offended. Conan did not reply.

"We would never do that!" Ayumi argued. "Would you leave us behind to save yourself, Conan-kun?"

"I would," he replied, a serious look crossing his face. "If my life was in danger, I would..."

None of Conan's friends said anything, and the boy closed his eyes so he couldn't see their hurt expressions. He had, after all, said he would betray them if given the chance.

So, he waited for them to leave.

He didn't expect Mitsuhiko talking, though.

"You are a liar," he simply said, taking Conan off guard. "If that was the case, you wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place," the fact that the boy didn't even look at him, told Mitsuhiko he was right. It took a little longer for the other two to understand, but they grinned widely when they did. "That's because, Conan-kun, you got shot while trying to protect us."

A look of determination crossed Ayumi's face. "So that's how it is, Conan-kun," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not moving from here until you climb up Genta-kun's back."

"None of us is," added Mitsuhiko, and Genta nodded.

Giving them another last, hesitant look, Conan silently nodded and settled in Genta's back, not wanting them to waste more time than they already had.

* * *

"Are you okay, Conan-kun?" asked Mitsuhiko, after a long time walking, concern filling his voice.

"Y-Yeah," Conan tried to reassure him. "My wound isn't bleeding that much now."

Both boys gave their friend a long, suspicious look, and he sighed having figured out that they had seen through his lie. Ayumi, on the other hand, was walking a few feet ahead, head down and eerily quiet. "Ayumi-chan?" he called, concerned. "Are you okay?"

The girl paused for a moment. "It's not fair," she mumbled, and none of her friends understood it at first, until she spun around, tears rolling down her face. "Why is that you get hurt and still you get to worry about us, when we can't worry about you in turn? How is that fair, Conan-kun?"

Conan silently looked at her, not finding the words to say in a situation like this. In a way, she was technically right, but...

She frowned a bit, then looked back to the path ahead. "Besides, it's my fault," she admitted, as they continued walking. "I said a little while wouldn't matter. If we never entered this cave, Conan-kun wouldn't be like this..."

"No, it's not your fault, Ayumi-chan!" Mitsuhiko stopped her. "It all started because I found this kind of place!"

"Idiot, I'm the one to blame!" Genta shouted. "I got excited and then saw the bad guys doing their thing."

"... And I didn't stop any of you, even if I thought this was a bad idea," Conan said, weakly, causing them to look at him. "This is _our _fault, but the self-blame game will get us nowhere. All we can do is try to get out of this so can have that barbeque, together."

They all looked at each other and nodded, with tiny smiles adorning their faces.

"You're so silly, Conan-kun," Ayumi let out a watery laugh, as she viciously wiped her tears away. "You can't have a barbeque with that wound."

"Try me," he jokingly said, with a chuckle.

"Conan is right!" Genta argued. "There's no way we're not getting that barbeque after everything we went through!"

"Seriously, Genta-kun," Mitsuhiko sighed.

With a relieved smile on his face, Conan let his head rest against Genta's shoulder, feeling overly exhausted. Despite how awful he currently felt, the boy was glad that his friends were talking, very softly, but in good spirits. _If we want to get out of here, we need to keep this positive mindset._

At some point the path splitted in two and Conan decided to throw Genta's watch, turned up and neatly closed, in the path they had chosen. If those men had committed a robbery, he figured that at least one of them had half a brain, and would instantly think they were tricked.

He hoped they weren't smart enough to figure _his _trick, though.

Conan also hoped they were going in the right direction. Throughout that time inside the cavern, he found himself feeling worse and worse. He was sweating heavily, yet at the same time he felt cold. Very cold. His head also pounded so badly that he was having trouble focusing in what happened around.

_Severe blood loss, _he kept his eyes open with difficulty as he listed his symptoms. _I need to hold on a little longer, _his gaze fell on his friends and frowned. _For them..._

Ayumi suddenly let out a gasp, causing Conan to look up to see they were currently walking beside a source of water. "There are fish here!" she pointed out.

"Hey, do those fish have eyes?" he asked.

"Yes, they do," Mitsuhiko instantly informed him. "I believe they're trout."

"What, do we get to eat them?" Genta exclaimed.

Hadn't Conan currently been riding on his back, Genta would have noticed the way his friend let out a resigned, but amused smile. "Fool," he said, with a chuckle. "If there are fish with eyes in a cavern like this, then they came here from a nearby river... S-So, if we go against the flow of water..."

"We could get outside!" they all three exclaimed.

"Exactly," he nodded weakly. "So, let's hurry up..."

_... because I don't know how much longer I can endure this._

So they did, and Conan held on with what little strength he had left.

Eventually, the group reached what it seemed to be the source of the water, falling down from the top of the cave. The three children whined, seeing their only chance to escape vanishing into the thin air, at least until Conan pointed out the roots on the ceiling ─ the ground was near, and so had to be the exit.

"But I don't see an exit anywhere," Mitsuhiko said.

"Ah!" Ayumi noticed something. "There's something there!"

"It's an egg!" Genta noted.

Conan looked over his friend's shoulder, confused, and found out they were actually right. There was an egg shaped rock sitting on top of a boulder, which made him wonder. There was no way that could've been formed by the forces of nature, no. A living, human being had put it in there, for some reason.

_But why?_

The path in front of them was splitted into five. It couldn't just be a coincidence.

"Look!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed. "There are some words engraved on it!"

So, he read them:

"_Those who are lost in the dark_

_take your steps towards the path of the dragon._

_then you shall be showered by the light of happiness."_

_The light... of happiness..._

He didn't get to think about it any further, because Ayumi suddenly shrieked and then they were surrounded by a swarm of bats. Conan winced, as his friends screamed, so loudly that he wouldn't be surprised if those men had heard as well.

"Don't move!" he yelled and, with all his might, threw his detective badge a few feet away.

As he had expected, they went towards the small sound immediately. And his friends awed when he explained that bats were sensible to small moving objects because they ate little bugs and insects.

Yet, they didn't notice the way his breathing had quickened. That swift movement had left the boy winded, gasping for air, and his wound screaming in pain. He wouldn't have surprised he had opened it even more by doing that.

But he didn't say anything. He merely told his friends that bats lived within a three-thousand meter radius of a cave entrance and that seemed to work. They all smiled, cheerfully, hope rising in their chests once more.

Even if his sight was beginning to blur.

"Keywords are... '_To'... _path of the dragon... egg..." he mumbled while in thought, willing himself to think faster.

Then, it hit him. His eyes opened, wide. Just then, the rest of the group had decided to try all five paths in order.

"... You only need to enter one..." he said, so softly that they almost didn't hear. Yet, the way they stopped walking let him know he had their attention. "T-The engraved words '_those who are lost in the dark' _means people who are lost in this cave... '_The light of happiness'_... is the light coming from the exit. That means the rock... at the entrance and on that boulder shows the way out..."

His gaze flickered, but he managed to stay awake only by his willpower.

"The exit, the path of the dragon is..." he struggled, but managed to raise his arm, his index finger stretching so he could point. "...T-That path is..."

Before it dropped unceremoniously against Genta's shoulder. Shocked, and confused, they all looked over their friend. His entire body had gone limp in the bigger boy's back, and blood was covering Conan's entire backside, dripping into the ground.

The fact that the young detective had passed out from his injury, and that they now could hear footsteps coming closer, rapidly so, sent the three children into a panicked state.

* * *

"...our.. cha... Le.. go...!"

Strange noises filtered through Conan's ears, but his slow mind didn't seem to be able to understand what they were saying. The voices were muffled, rushed with urgency, yet he still couldn't tell what was happening.

Then something beneath him started moving, breathing heavily as he shook him from side to side. It hurt his abdomen, a lot, but he couldn't complain even if he wanted to. His entire body felt heavy, cold, and sweat was uncomfortably collecting on his brow. His mouth wouldn't move and nothing would come out of it even when he tried to speak. Just remained there, partly open, as the air he so desperately needed went in and out.

A loud noise ran through his ears and the next thing his dull senses registered was that he was falling down, besides a groan under him. That hurt, too, a lot. But his limbs felt like lead, so he just lied there, motionlessly.

_That noise... it sounded like..._

By the time he recognized what was that '_bang' _sound, he felt himself raised into the air and something that he guessed was an arm around his neck keeping him still, pressing his body against someone's chest. A strange coldness pressed against his temple and the person behind him started to say something, loudly so, that he couldn't decipher.

That feeling however... It was like he had lived through this before.

"... I'll punch a hole through this kid's head!"

Then, on the middle of the darkness, he saw _him. _Cold, murderous eyes, and a gun pointing at his face. And, unlike other times when he would probably feel scared, the child fell confused. He could clearly feel the gun on his temple... Then, how...?

A strong light shone through his eyelids, making the image he had been seeing vanish.

"This is the police!" he heard someone saying. "You're completely surrounded!"

_... The police...?_

The memories of everything that had happened in the last few hours filled his head. The robbers, the gunshot, the path of the dragon...

He tried to open his eyes, but the brightness was too much for him to handle. _Everyone, _he panicked. _Are they alright?_

"Fools! Can't you see this?" he heard the robber that was most likely holding him hostage saying, as he pressed his weapon further against Conan's head. "If you don't want to see this kid in pieces, open up the road!"

Despite how bad he was feeling, Conan found the strength to smirk. "... You fool," he said, between gasps. "It's already checkmate for you."

Managing to crack one eye open, the child looked at the robber, who turned to him, annoyed and equally surprised. So, the kid used all strength he had left to flip the lid on his watch open, then point at the criminal.

"So stop..." he shot the needle at him. "... struggling."

As expected the robber fell into the ground, completely unconscious, letting the little boy free to just drop beside him, exhausted. Hands were then all over him, turning over, and voices filled the room, speaking urgently.

He didn't even try to move a muscle as they raised him and settled him into a stretcher, except for, maybe, his eyes. Conan forced them open one last time.

His blue orbs met with Haibara's serious ones, before settling on Ayumi's, who was standing at her side while staring at him, undoubtedly worried. Straining his ears, he managed to faintly hear Genta and Mitsuhiko's voice, explaining the situation to the police and Professor Agasa.

_... They are safe..._

That was all the little boy needed to know, so he smiled at his friends briefly, before finally drifting off.

* * *

A/N:

SapphireRuby24: No, the reason for Haibara disliking Ran is not because she's jealous since, as you just said, doesn't make much sense in this story.

ajjr12: For your first question I have already thought something for Mary, but I can't say anything about it, so sorry about that! About your second question, the BO plot will come soon after the Desperate Revival Arc. And, yeah, I already knew that in canon only half a year had passed, but it's a personal desire of mine to have time pass as realistically as possible.

Dy: Miyano Akemi was just 25 in this story. I thought it would best if I just let that unchanged, even if the age gap between the sisters is bigger now. And about Sera, at the moment I think it will best if I write as Ran's age, but I might change my mind before she is introduced, hahaha!


	26. A Late Night Visit

**File Twenty-Six: A Late Night Visit**

"Eh?! Surgery?!" Kogoro shocked shout resounded in the entire hospital. "It wasn't just a regular cut?"

Agasa shifted, uncomfortably, and mumbled a bit while he struggled to find the right words. Kogoro just stared at him, blinking, before an annoyed expression took hold of his face. Feeling anxiety gnawing at him he was about to press the older man to tell him what was going on for once and for all.

Surprisingly though, it was the little girl who spoke first.

"He was shot by a gun," Kogoro would have been lying if he said that he wasn't a bit disturbed by the way this kid talked ─ coldly, calmly and too mature, far too different from other children to be deemed normal. "His left abdomen was injured. The bullet pierced through, but there was a great deal of blood loss. There's the possibility of nephropathy."

For a slight moment, the man wondered what kind of seven year-old knew word 'nephropathy'_, _but he shook it off when the meaning of her words dawned on him.

"I hear he's in critical condition."

Conan, the freeloader that had lived in his own house for the better part of the year had been _shot. _The thought of an innocent child whose age didn't even reach two digits had to go through all of that made his skin crawl.

Once the initial shock had subsided, worry started to settle in. Mostly when he heard his daughter calling the child's name and saw her, running with the doctors as they rolled a stretcher towards the operation room.

And the little boy just laid there, a mask attached to his face. Pale. Fragile. Motionless.

"Doctor, it's an emergency!" it looked like Conan's bad luck wouldn't end just like that. "Our last spare of blood matching this boy's blood type was used on our last surgery! We don't have enough!"

"What?" the doctor frowned. "Even if we send a message to the blood center, they won't make it in time!"

Ran glanced towards Conan and, without hesitating, stepped closer to the doctors. "Excuse me," she said, with an outstanding certainty. "If my blood is alright, then... I have the same blood type as this boy."

Everyone looked back to Ran, relieved after hearing that.

Nobody noticed however the way the little boy's eyes opened in an amazing display of willpower, struggling to focus on the older girl, at least until she turned around to see him. She must have realized the terrified expression he currently had, because she leaned over and rested her hand on top of his.

"You will be okay, Conan-kun," she smiled, sweetly. "Just hold on a little longer, okay?"

Ran then turned to the nurse, nodding at her, before rushing over the clean room to verify that they actually were compatible. Kogoro watched the retreating form of his daughter with a very serious expression, before turning back to the little boy.

There was a distressed look on Conan's hazy eyes which surprised the man, his gaze still focused on the way the girl had just went away. He seemed to be scared about something, which was weird considering how courageous the boy was, and Ran's words hadn't seemed to help.

So, the man stepped closer, completely confused. If he was honest, the child seemed even more scared than he had been before Ran had tried to comfort him. Then, it fell on him.

His arm moved over the boy, then hesitated. For a slight moment, he just stood there with his hand on the air, before he sighed. Awkwardly, it rested on his little head.

Blue eyes darted towards him, startled, but he didn't even turn his head to look. So, the man crouched down, so he would be in eye level with the injured child.

"Ran will be okay, she's a strong and healthy girl," he whispered to him. "Losing a few droplets of blood is not a big deal to her."

The boy didn't say anything, probably because he lacked the strength to do so, but he seemed to relax a tiny bit against the pillow.

"So you better focus on getting better, squirt."

Kogoro held on his gaze for a few moments, until Conan weakly nodded his head while closing his eyes again. Once he was out of the child's sight, the detective stood up and shook his head.

_What was all of that about, anyway?_

The next thing he knew, Kogoro was looking at the '_Operating'_ sign on the door that had just turned on, sitting on the waiting room beside his daughter. Agasa and the little boy's friends were also there, oddly silent probably due to worry.

He focused on Ran, however, who just stayed there, staring at the gauze on her arm with an empty look. Then, the man sighed, and pulled out his phone.

Ran looked up at him, curious by his actions.

"I'm going to call the kid's parents," he said as he stood up.

"Ah," she nodded, suddenly realizing that that was one of the first things that she should've thought of, and also pulled her phone. "Then, I'm going to tell Shinichi about Conan-kun."

When he saw the teenage girl suddenly standing up, then wobbling a bit because of the quick motion, Kogoro panicked a bit. "It's okay, I can do it," he told her. "Just give me the detective brat's number and..."

He trailed off when he saw the female shaking her head and staring at him with a resolved and determined expression.

"It _has _to be me."

Kogoro couldn't argue.

* * *

Despite of it all, it was quite a peaceful night at the hospital after Conan was wheeled out the operation room ─ which had taken far too long for everyone waiting. Once the boy had been deemed safe, the professor personally had taken the exhausted children back home.

Conan was fast asleep, recovering from his long surgery, that had been deemed a success by the doctors, and the stitched wound that had yet to completely heal. So, relieved by the fact that the child was going to be just fine, Ran had dozed off in top of Conan's bed, definitely tired after giving the kid so much of her blood but not wanting to leave him alone.

All in all, everything was going well.

At least, until the little boy's eyebrows were brought together.

"_Please, let me do this!" _that voice rang through Conan's mind. "_My blood... My blood is fine, right?!"_

"_But Kudo-san, you can't do that in such a condition. Your injuries are quite serious as well!"_

_Conan tried desperately to open his eyes, to shout, to do anything. To stop his brother from doing something like that when he was so severely hurt..._

_... But how did he get so badly injured anyway?_

His head whipped to the side, pressing against the pillow as his facial expression twisted.

_Then he was back again to that same place. Something sharp was pressing against his neck, and Shinichi's gun was pointed at his face once more. His breath hitched and tears welled up on his eyes._

_And now Conan saw blood. Blood everywhere. His hands. His back. His brother's torso._

_There was also something on his little hands. Heavy. Cold._

"... Onii... chan..." still captive of his own cruel mind, the child softly mumbled.

A finger gently caressed his forehead, brushing away sweaty strands of his mussed hair. Blue eyes slowly blinked open at the tender motion, flickering at the unfocused, blurry figure sitting at his bedside.

When the attention first shifted to him, the person seemed to flinch, before calming down instantly. He continued with the ministrations on his head and even Conan, in his confused, sleepy haze, understood it was to help him calm down.

And it really helped. The child felt himself sinking deeper into his pillow and closing his eyes with a sigh of contentment.

There was something nostalgic and warm about this person. This familiar, yet foreign kindness was something that, at the bottom of his heart, missed dearly.

Yes, just like...

_The teenage boy pressed a hand against his bloody side. The child was running towards him, desperate, hands stretched forward. _

"_Onii-chan!"_

Before he knew it, the child was standing up on his bed and about to get up for some reason and the person beside him, startled by that sudden motion could only catch him as the kid stumbled forward. The person just sat there, confused, as he stared at the back of the child's head.

At least, until Conan's hands weakly latched on his shirt. "... I'm... sorry... Onii-chan," his voice was soft and weak, muffled by the boy's clothes. "... I..."

He couldn't really tell if Conan was fully conscious at this point. "Shh," still, the teenage boy smiled sweetly and held the child closer against his chest, rubbing his hand against the kid's back. "It's okay, Conan," he reassured the young child. "It's okay."

As Conan was settled back into the bed and the blankets tucked tightly around him, his sleepy eyes, which hadn't left the figure speaking comforting words at him, blinked lethargically.

The hand started to brush through his hair again.

Just then, just for a moment, the blurry figure came back to focus.

There, at his side, he saw the face he missed the most.

He blinked slowly again and realized, with a sense of panic, that he really didn't like doing that. Every time his eyes closed, they opened a tiny bit less.

Against his will, he blinked once. Twice.

... Thrice.

At the fourth time, his eyelids were too heavy to open again. So, with a terrible ache on his heart, he allowed himself to be swallowed by darkness once more.

Even after the little boy's breathing had evened out and he had settled down into a hopefully dreamless slumber, the person didn't leave. With uppermost care, he dried down the lone tear that had escaped from the child's eye as he had fallen asleep against his own wishes.

And for hours he just sat there, at his bedside, stroking through his hair and hoping no more heart wrenching nightmares were plaguing this poor boy's mind.

* * *

The next time Conan woke up was to the sight of a bag of clear liquid at his side. He just stared at it, blankly, before turning his head to look out the window.

Birds were chirping and the sun was up in the clear blue sky.

He had lived to see another day.

Being alive, however, also meant he was able to feel pain. Because of that, he couldn't help but groan quietly when he sat up, a bit too quickly, and press his hand to the place it hurt.

By the corner of his eye, Conan noticed something on the end of his bed, so he looked up. His eyes opened, surprised, at the sight of Ran, who slept with her face buried in her arms, which in turn rested on the mattress.

"You should thank Ran," a voice suddenly said, so his eyes shifted away from the girl to the doorway. Kogoro yawned, loudly, as he stepped inside the room. "Even after giving 400cc of her own blood to you, she stayed here all night watching over you."

Conan said nothing, just glanced at the IV needle sticking on his arm as Kogoro leaned over his daughter, adjusting the coat he had placed over her shoulders last night.

"We're lucky your blood just happened to be the same as Ran's," he said to the child. "If your blood was any rarer, you'd have passed to the other world from blood loss."

The boy stayed silent, as some fragments of what happened last night passed through his mind. He faintly remembered Ran saying that she would give her blood to him, and that alone had triggered another distant memory he hadn't been able to reach before.

"_... you can't do that in such a condition. Your injuries are quite serious as well!"_

Everything was fuzzy, but he recalled Kogoro calming him down, saying things he couldn't remember at the moment.

Said man was currently standing in front of him, a stern expression on his face. "Hey, Ran gave you a lot of blood," he told him. "If you don't get better soon, I won't forgive you!"

Conan blinked twice, before a teasing smirk appeared in his features. "Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "I haven't expected Occhan to be such a tsundere_._"

Kogoro scowled at him. "You're lucky you're injured and I can't hit you, because..."

"You're only proving my point there."

The pair was so deeply immersed in their banter that they didn't notice Ran stirring and sitting up. Silently, she stared at the two as they argued.

Conan deadpanned, saying something that definitely irritated her father. His voice was still a bit hoarse and his face was a bit too pale for her liking, but he looked so much better than he had when she had first seen him upon arriving at the hospital.

He then laughed about something and Ran couldn't help but smile a little, feeling relief washing over her for the first time since last night.

It was the child the first one to notice Ran was up.

"Good morning, Ran-neechan," he said to her, causing Kogoro to stop his argument where it was to turn to look at his daughter.

"Good morning, Conan-kun," she smiled wider at him. "How are you feeling?"

Before he could say anything back at her, Kogoro snorted. "The brat is fine," he gave him a side glare, which he returned. "More than fine, actually."

"You, on the other hand, don't look fine," Conan raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you sleep well, Occhan?"

"Dad, did you really go back home as you said or did you sleep in the waiting room?" Ran giggled.

"Whatever," Kogoro grumbled "I'm going to go get a doctor."

Right after that, the man left the room, closing the door behind him and the two occupants of the room looked at each other before laughing at his oh-so-obvious concern.

Conan however hissed in pain at the sudden movement, sending Ran into a nervous fussing panic state, which took at least five entire minutes to subside. As a result, the child was gently pushed back into the mattress and told not to move, under any circumstances ─ he had just gotten out of surgery, for goodness sake.

It weren't her words, the sense they made or the pain of his injury that caused the kid to agree so easily, but the sight of the black bags under her eyes that contrasted against her sickly pale face. _Well, she did stay all night taking care of me after giving me so much blood..._

Then it came back to him, prompting his hand to reach for his own forehead.

That comforting warmth...

"Sorry, Ran-neechan," he said after a while, with an apologetic smile on his face. "After everything you've done for me, I caused you a lot of trouble last night, didn't I?"

"Ah, no, not at all," she laughed, a bit embarrassed, scratching the back of her head. "In fact, I fell asleep right after you got out of surgery and didn't wake up until now."

Her smile faltered, however, when she noticed Conan's eyes widening, like two plates.

"... Conan-kun?" she called him, feeling worried.

He composed himself with a flinch, probably after being jerked away from any line of thought he had been until now. The kid didn't have time to explain, because the door opened and the doctor entered the room, Kogoro in tow.

* * *

"Conan-kun!"

"Are you okay, Conan?"

"Does anything hurt, Conan-kun?"

If the way the door bursted open wasn't an indicative enough for the child to know about his friends' presence, their loud voices surely did. "Ah, guys," he let out a smile, trying to comfort them, after he ate the piece of apple that Ran had kindly peeled for him ─ after fifteen minutes or so of the child arguing that he _could _still peel an apple, thank you very much, in vain, obviously.

Ran glanced at her watch and giggled a bit, amused to see that barely ten minutes had passed since the time they had been supposed to get out school. "Hello, everyone," she smiled at the four kids.

Three of them nodded, eagerly, at the older girl, while Haibara stared at her with a blank expression. Conan noticed that and couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.

"How is Conan-kun?" asked Ayumi, with such a serious face that Ran thought it was cute instead.

"He will be okay," she explained to them. "As long as he doesn't open his stitches and rests quietly for a while."

There was a collective sigh of relief before they all turned to Conan, who flinched at the sudden attention, before directing his gaze away from them and towards the window.

"By the way, Ran-san," Mitsuhiko spoke up, concerned eyes looking up at her. "Are you okay?"

"You don't look good," Ayumi added.

"I bet she's hungry," as expected Genta commented.

Ran tried to wave the comment off, but Conan pipped in before she could.

"She is," he replied with a sigh. "She hasn't eaten anything since morning, even if I, her father and every single living soul on this world tells her to, she refuses."

The three children gasped. "Eeeh?!"

"Conan-kun," she chastised, quietly, before turning to his friends. "There's nothing to worry about, I..."

"Iron," Haibara's calm voice sounded through the room, prompting everyone to pause to look at her. "Primary component of hemoglobin, extremely important for the transport of oxygen through the body. Lack of this mineral causes, among other symptoms, fatigue, headaches and nausea. In that case, it's strongly recommended to eat foods rich in iron, such as meat, fish, eggs and raisins."

Conan tried hard not to wince at the last word, but the teasing look and smirk Haibara sent his way told him he hadn't done a good job.

It went unnoticed by the others, however, who just stared at her. The three children mostly because they hadn't understood a word she had said, and Ran because she was surprised a seven year-old knew that much, in the first place.

She then remembered the weird amount of random stuff that Conan knew and the shock passed quickly.

"Go eat something, Ran-neechan," he told her, for the seventh time that week. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"Conan-kun is right!" argued Ayumi, as the other two children nodded behind her. "Don't worry, we'll take care of him!"

Ran couldn't help but laugh lightly at their determination, while Conan rolled his eyes. "I'll call you if something happens," the child said, holding his phone up.

The girl gave a worried glance towards Conan direction before sighing, loudly and nodding to him. "Then, I will be back soon," she smiled at them, and soon she was out the room.

None of the children saw, however, the girl leaning against the now closed door, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She stared at the screen with a sad look.

"_...Ran, what do you want?" _she remembered his sleepy voice from the other night. "_Do you have any idea of what time it is?"_

"_Shinichi," the seriousness of her voice prompted him to click his mouth shut. "I'm currently at Beika General Hospital."_

_There was a pause and Ran heard Shinichi's breath pick up at those words. "What..?"_

"_Conan-kun was shot." _

_Upon realizing there was no way to sugarcoat things, she had decided to go for a rather straightforward route. Ran stayed silent for a while as the teenage detective had gone quiet as well, probably letting that fact sink. "... How is he?" finally, he found his voice to ask._

"_Not so good," she answered, frankly. "He's undergoing surgery right now," then, with a pause, she added. "Shinichi, the doctor said that there was a big chance that... that he..."_

_Her mouth went dry at that, not finding in herself the courage to say those words, especially when it was about little Conan. _

_For a few minutes, it was silent._

_And then..._

"_I understand," she heard Shinichi's voice say._

_Before he hung up on her._

Ran frowned deeply, putting her phone back on place. _What's that stupid detective maniac doing anyway? _she thought, feeling the urge of kicking him in the face rising at every waking second. _He doesn't even answer my calls or my texts... That idiot._

She didn't notice, however, the pair of blue eyes staring at her, a sad glimmer visible on them.

* * *

Three pairs of eyes were owlishly blinking at him while the boy, who was receiving all that attention, couldn't help but try to back off their sight, just to sink deeper into the pillow he was propped up with.

And Haibara was having so much fun with this, he could tell by the way she laughed softly under her hand.

"... What did you just say, Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked, sitting with Mitsuhiko and Genta at the end of Conan's bed, eyes wide open.

"That I will tell you everything," he said, with slight hesitation on his voice. "There are things I've kept you in the dark about, and you deserve to know."

Mitsuhiko's eyes opened. "Is it about that mysterious organization?"

Conan nodded.

"You guys told me before that you wanted to know," he said. "And that's the least I can do for you," then, with a sincere smile, the child added. "You are my saviors, after all."

Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta looked at each other for a moment before turning back to their friend, whose expression remained unchanged.

"You got me out of that place, instead of leaving me there to save yourselves," the child continued. "I was told that, had I arrived at the hospital a minute later, I wouldn't have made it. So, for all of that... Thank you."

"There's no need for that!" Mitsuhiko argued, instantly. "You saved us first from the gun, didn't you?"

"That means we are even," Ayumi glanced towards her other two friends. "Right?"

While the three children exchanged grins as they nodded at each other, Conan chuckled lightly, closing his eyes. _Idiots,_ he thought, fondly. _At that time, I was actually paying you back._

Because they had already saved him, almost a year ago.

Even when he had pushed them away. Even when he had believed he would be better off on his own. Even when he had been so hurt and alone...

They had reached out for him. These three kids had saved him.

Like so, he spent the next thirty minutes talking about every single encounter he had gone through ever since. His encounter with Gin and Vodka on the train, the explosion that had taken Tequila's life and even that his 'suspicions' about the drug Shinichi had taken ─ he couldn't exactly tell them about the Apotoxin-4869 without telling that Haibara was actually Sherry.

He also decided not to say anything about Haibara's dead sister ─ he would tell them some of that when the girl wasn't present, but honestly Conan didn't want to bring up such a touchy topic with the young scientist around.

"And who is that Singani person you were talking about before?" Mitsuhiko asked.

Haibara gave him a look, wondering how he was going to deal with that kind of question. "I heard Tequila saying that word, along with my brother's, at that time," then her lips curved upwards, amused at his ability to lie without batting an eye. "I think he has something to do with Shinichi-niichan's disappearance."

"Have you figured it out?" Conan's head spun to her place on the chair beside the bed and noticed her icy-cold eyes narrowing a bit. "Do you know who Singani is?"

The girl saw the boy pausing, hesitation glinting on his eyes for a moment before he glanced out the window. "... No," he settled with that answer. "I have no idea."

Ai did not say anything in return.

Conan said nothing either, yawning tiredly as he leaned against the pillows, listening intently as the other three started discussing about that mysterious character and coming up with multiple theories that ranged from coherent but probably wrong to _what's-wrong-with-you-Genta? _kind of wrong. Seriously, the kid genuinely believed Singani was the owner of the bakery next door because they had run out of bread ─ _and what kind of bakery doesn't have bread, right? That's definitely suspicious!_

At some point Ayumi sighed, exasperated. "I don't have a clue," she admitted, with an embarrassed laugh. "Do you have any theory, Conan... kun?"

She trailed off, causing the rest of the children to look at her, questiongly, before they noticed what she was staring at. They couldn't help but be surprised when they saw Conan's slightly laded head, fully resting his entire body against the pillows. A closer look let them see his eyes were closed and soft breaths were coming in and off his barely open mouth.

"Rude," Genta scoffed. "To fall asleep on us just like that..."

"Do you think he's okay?" Ayumi wondered, a concerned frown in her features.

Mitsuhiko inched closer to him, hand hovering over his friend's shoulder, when he was stopped. "Stop," Haibara's voice prompted the child to freeze. "Let him sleep."

The children just stared at her, blankly, as she shifted her glance towards the boy. "Kudo-kun must still be exhausted after the surgery he went through last night," she explained to them. "We should let him rest for now."

"That's true, but..." Ayumi looked away from his friend to look at Haibara. "What do we do now?"

"Didn't you promise Mouri-san that you would take care of Kudo-kun until she returns?"

Ayumi blinked at that, then looked at her other two friends and the three nodded determined. Haibara chuckled at their display of determination while Conan just slumbered away, unaware of what was happening in his own room.

* * *

Kazuha at first was a little confused to see a grown up woman standing in front of her school gate that afternoon, but it turned into mild confusion when she fixed her eyes in Heiji and then into _what-the-hell-is-going-on-here? _confusion when she started heading towards him.

"Eh?" Heiji stopped in his tracks to blink at the woman. "What are you doing here?"

When she realized that the two of them seemed to know each other, Kazuha's confusion was overtaken by surprise. She stared at Heiji, for a few moments, before turning to the woman, and then to her childhood friend again.

"Heiji, do you know this person...?" then, it occured it to her and her eyebrow began to twitch. "Don't tell me that all those times you went back and forth to Ekoda you met with this woman over there?"

"Yeah," he replied, without hesitation, not understanding what the problem with that was.

"EH?!" she seemed to shout, angry for some reason. "What did you think you were doing?! She's too old for you!"

"... Eh...?" when he realized what she really meant with that, he blushed furiously. "I didn't mean _that_, I swear!"

"So you didn't?" her eyebrow rose, highly unconvinced. "Then, who is-?"

"Kato Momoka," the woman replied, with such a serious expression that Kazuha couldn't find in herself to answer. "I was a receptionist at Ekoda Hospital, where he had been investigating a death that had happened more than a year ago."

Heiji frowned at that. "So," he spoke. "Why are you here?"

"I want you to resume your investigation," Momoka's eyes narrowed. "I want you to investigate Watanabe Satoshi's murder case."

* * *

Haibara was just eyeing a random magazine when she heard the sound of the door slowly opening, to reveal a young male nurse, whose hair was covered by a surgical cap, peeking inside while tugging the facemask up, before stepping inside.

"I didn't expect this to become a slumber party," said the nurse, a bit shocked.

The girl examined his face for a moment, until her eyes widened slightly in recognition. She recovered quickly, though, shrugging with a small smirk while shifting her gaze to her friends.

Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, limbs and bodies all tangled with each other at the end of Conan's bed. They had decided to be as quiet as they could for the sake of the bespectacled boy, and when Haibara had looked up they all were already like that.

"They all stayed up until late last night," she shrugged, returning to her magazine. "So I guess this was bound to happen."

The nurse chuckled, good heartedly, at that before walking towards the patient. Slowly and with extreme care he positioned the bed so the child could rest lying down, instead of the semi-recumbent position he had just been sleeping in.

"Aren't you tired, also?" he asked softly, so he wouldn't disturb the children.

"I'm used to pull all-nighters, so it's normal for me."

He thought about scold her about how dangerous that habit could be but decided not to since he _knew _it would only fall in deaf ears, so he just shook his head to show his disapproval.

His eyes then fell on the little boy in the bed and softened instantly. _Honestly, _he thought, fondly, tucking the blankets tightly around him before going to reach for his glasses.

A small hand latched to his arm at that and, oh boy, he downright _panicked._

There was little reason not to do so. The child was blinking the sleep out his eyes, rubbing them roughly with one hand while he kept his grip on the hem of the nurse's sleeve.

Said nurse did not move, just stood there. Frozen.

"Edogawa-kun," the child heard the girl say, with a light chuckle tainting her voice. "I think it would be best if you let this poor hospital worker go."

It took a couple of seconds more than usual to let go. "... Ah," Conan smiled, feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"N-No, it's okay," the nurse laughed, good heartedly, as he slowly walked backwards before turning around so quickly that Conan didn't even have the time to see his face clearly.

Just as he was opening the door, however, somebody did it for him. A overweight man with a black suit and blonde hair stepped forward, almost bumping into the guy. The nurse bowed slightly, apologizing for his actions, before disappearing out the door.

The man that had just entered glanced over his shoulder, towards the hospital worker that had just left. Conan could swear he just saw him smirking for some reason.

Until he was pushed away from the doorway as a woman made her way through, and at the sight of the plump, raven-haired female with black clothes Conan couldn't help but open his eyes, widely.

He could clearly remember seeing that very same face when he was kidnapped from Kogoro's office last February.

"Co-chan!" if it hadn't been so painfully obvious who this woman was, now he definitely knew. "Oh, my poor baby!"

Conan's eyes opened in fear and he tried to scramble away, but he didn't succeed. Her arms were all around him in an instant, cuddling him against his chest. "Mom, let me go!" he cried, annoyed. "Ouch, my wound! Watch it!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" she smiled, apologetically, and loosened her grip on him. That didn't mean, to his displeasure, that she had let him go.

A blush blossomed into his features when he heard Haibara laughing, under her breath, at the scene in front of her, and struggled a little to free himself from her clutches.

"Conan-kun? Who is she?"

The boy became redder, if possible, when he heard Ayumi ask that, before realizing that his three friends were wide awake ─ probably due to the ruckus from before ─ and staring at them both, curiously.

"We're his parents," the man, who Conan now identified as his father, explained with an amused smile. "I see you have been taking good care of our son, didn't you? Good job."

"Eh?" Mitsuhiko blinked. "But weren't Conan-kun's parents supposed to be Kudo Yusaku and Yukiko?"

"Yeah, but right now we're _Edogawa _Conan-kun's parents," Yukiko told the children, with a wink. "Keep that as a secret for now, okay?"

"Okay!" they all cheered.

And Conan decided he would have preferred to die from blood loss last night.

Haibara, surprisingly, said nothing about it at all. Just sighed and went to the door. "We should get going, everyone," she told them, with a rather indifferent expression. "We can leave Kudo-kun with his parents for now."

They nodded and hopped off the bed before rushing out the door. "Haibara-san," Conan stopped her, before she could leave, and gave her a serious look. "Thank you."

She paused for a moment, then seemed to smile and nodded. The door closed right after that.

With all the children gone, the room fell into a deep silence. Conan looked up at his parents, and they stared at each other, without knowing what to say for a moment. The child, however, didn't care.

He just genuinely smiled at them, because he didn't need them to talk to know what was through their minds.

His hand went to his own shoulder, mind-absently, while his smile faltered a bit. _Yeah, _he realized. _It's just like that time..._

Except Shinichi wasn't there, wearing _that_ expression as he watched his parents embrace his little brother. That expression Conan couldn't read, no matter how much he tried.

"Feels like a deja-vu, right?" Yusaku spoke first.

Obviously, his father could read him like a book as well.

"There are things that are different, however," he said to him. "Like, for example, Shinichi-niichan didn't try to give me his blood this time."

The pair froze at that, staring at the kid, wide eyed for some reason that Conan couldn't comprehend ─ in fact, it made him even more suspicious. "Do you remember that?" Yusaku asked, after a moment.

"Some of it, not much though," he replied, eyes narrowing a bit and hands clenching around the blankets. "Say, at that time, was Shinichi-niichan hurt?"

"It was just a cut, nothing to worry about," his mother tried to reassure him, yet accomplishing on making him frown, instead. "You can't donate blood if you're injured, however. We were lucky that Ran-chan had the same type of blood than Shin-chan and could give some to you."

He blinked at that. _Ran-neechan did?_

Yusaku smirked. "Be sure to thank her properly later, alright?" he told him.

Conan could only nod.

The Kudo couple left not long thereafter, deciding to fly back to America before the media would notice them missing and make a fuss about it.

Like so, ten days passed by in a flash.

* * *

A/N:

Dy: Thank you for pointing out that mistake! I actually read again that part and I don't know what was wrong with me but I had several grammatical errors in that short scene, lol.

Yose Hyuann: She probably will, eventually. Not even I am that evil XD

AnimeFan2003: I will, don't worry ;)


	27. The Black Knight Appears

**File Twenty-Seven: The Black Knight Appears**

By the tenth day Conan was almost feeling like his normal self, besides the slight cold that made his throat tickle from time to time ─ the doctor had said that he had post-surgical symptom and that it was quite normal.

But, to be honest, the child pretty much prefered having a ordinary cough than a hole through his abdomen.

"Hey, that game is pretty good, huh?" Genta commented.

"It's all the rage at school right now!" Ayumi added.

"Ah, right there, there!" Mitsuhiko leaned closer to the screen. "Turn left there!"

Conan couldn't say anything, just grinned wider as he moved his character as he was told. His friends had, after all, just made him download a game into his phone, and it was pretty addicting.

A hand came suddenly and plucked the device from his hands. He blinked up at Sonoko, who stood there, putting his phone inside her pocket, before his eyebrow started to twitch. _Don't just take things that aren't yours..._

"Alright, playtime is over now," she announced, as Conan's three friends groaned. "The patient will go straight to his room."

Ran just giggled a bit at the children's displeasure, smiling apologetically at them while gently pushing Conan's wheelchair forward.

"And the kids should go home because it's getting late!" Sonoko added raising her fist in the air.

"Alright then, see you later, Sonoko-neechan," he said to the older girl, with a fake smile on his face.

She paused for a moment, before his words really dawned. "What did you say, little brat-?!" Sonoko stepped up and, just in that moment, the phone slipped out her pocket.

Before clattering into the ground with a sickening sound. Everyone paused at that, closing their eyes on instinct. When they opened, Conan saw his phone on the floor and gasped. "Ah!" he shouted, before glaring at the older girl. "You did it in purpose, didn't you?"

"Ah, no," she blinked. "It was an accident."

Conan gave her a long look, before scoffing. "I knew you were actually a kid, but didn't think you would have a level of coordination akin to those of a toddler."

"Now, now, Conan-kun, stop it," Ran spoke quickly, picking up his phone and giving it to him while gracing Sonoko with a long look, who scoffed lightly while looking away, offended. _She really is a kid sometimes._

Conan gave out at annoyed groan, inspecting his phone. He wasn't happy to find out that there were scratches everywhere, as a product of such a fall. "Guess it's goodbye to you, guys," he sighed, turning to his friends, as Ran began to roll him away. They waved at him, big smiles on their faces, until they disappeared from his sight.

As the three went back to his room, Conan ignored the girls chatting above him, more preoccupied at the moment with his phone. He frowned, annoyed, when he noted the game app opening in a slower pace, bugging every once in a while.

_Great, this thing is practically broken, _he directed a dirty look to Sonoko, who remained unaware of it.

"If he's released in two to three days, it'll be during the festival," she commented. "Three days from now we'll be performing our play."

Conan's attention diverted to the conversation at that. He remembered Ran practising for the play a few weeks ago. She had been chosen for the role of the princess and had tried to act her part with Kogoro. At that time, Conan had confirmed that the man definitely _wasn't _fit for the role of the knight ─ he had decided that wearing a paper bag as a mask was a good idea, for goodness sake!

The scene of the kiss had worried the detective, but soon he was calmed down when she told him Sonoko had decided to dress as a man and do what she could ─ all boys had been cowards, Ran had explained.

"What are you going to do about picking up this kid?" Sonoko asked.

"Don't worry," Ran assured. "I'll ask my dad to."

"Oh yeah, did you call him?" she suddenly said, with a big grin on her face.

"Him?" her friend blinked.

"Shinichi-kun," she stated, as if it was obvious ─ which it was. "If you tell him you'll be the heroine of the play, he might fly back."

Conan laughed lightly, picturing that. "Be careful, Sonoko-neechan," he piped in. "He might steal your role as the knight to kiss Ran-neechan."

"Ah, not _my _role, actually," she laughed, awkwardly, as she raised her arm. Only then did Conan notice the bandages covering her arm. "I sprained it during the play rehearsal. I had to give up playing the knight."

"Then, who is it?" he asked, curiously.

"You know, Araide-sensei," Ran explained. "He was helping with the directing and decided to do the role."

"Eh?" he said, with a mischievous smile on his face, before turning to his phone. "Don't worry, Sonoko-neechan, leave this to me."

"H-Hey, Conan-kun..."

"Now we're talking the same language, kid."

"Sonoko!"

Despite Ran's loud protest, Conan managed to type:

"_Remember that nice and cool doctor I talked you about last February?_

_He's going to play the role of the protagonist at your class' play for the Cultural Festival, along Ran-neechan, the princess._

_... And now that I think about it, I believe I read something about a kiss at the end of the play..."_

His finger hovered over the 'send' button.

"... Besides I know he won't come," he heard Ran say. "I haven't heard of him ever since I called to tell him about Conan-kun."

Conan hesitated, realizing he hadn't really heard about him for a long time either. Now, the child hadn't have the time to actually call him, but Shinichi certainly could've done it instead.

If he knew about his situation, why wouldn't the detective call? Conan frowned.

For someone who went all the way to Beika just because he had heard about an incident that he _guessed _Conan was involved with, almost six months ago, it didn't really make any sense.

His eyes focused on the text he had just written and frowned, not having the sightless idea of what to do.

At least until he spotted a male nurse on the end of the corridor, going the opposite direction from them, a facemask and a surgical hat tightly kept in place. Time seemed to slow down as he passed by them and, slowly, Conan began to turn his head towards his direction.

Every single thing around them seemed to stop moving as the two pairs of identical bright blue eyes met.

And then it came back to him suddenly, again. Those reassuring words and that calming warmth.

He didn't miss the way the nurse's eyes opened, slightly, when the kid reached for his own forehead. That confused him, greatly, for a moment until he remembered...

Those same eyes looking at him, with a rather tender expression, while their owner sat at his bedside.

So, without breaking his gaze, Conan pushed the 'send' button.

_Ping._

The nurse went white at that instant, not failing to notice the way Conan's shocked stare turned into a rather angry glare.

Naturally, the teenager started running away before the child had the chance to say anything.

_As if I would let you!_

Impulsively, the kid jumped off his wheelchair and took off running, badly startling the two girls who, after recovering, shouted his name. He ignored them, in favour of going faster.

He didn't care if he wasn't supposed to run in the halls. He didn't care that his abdomen was hurting, clearly complaining about the rough treatment it was receiving. He really didn't.

All he cared about at the moment was about catching up with that person.

Conan couldn't let him go, not when he was this close.

_Not again._

Sadly his little legs did not manage to catch up. The nurse took a sharp turn, then another, and soon he was out of Conan's sight, lost among the crowd of people in the waiting room. _Damn it, _he cursed, desperately searching for any hidden spots, doors but he was basically gone. _He couldn't have gone too far._

People were beginning to stare at him, as he wandered around, mostly annoyed about a child roaming bothering all around them while playing what it seemed to be a game of hide and seek.

Any other day he would've cared, but not today.

His eyes fell on the restroom doors and opened, slightly. As he was about to go there, however, a pair of hands held him in place. "Conan-kun!" he heard Ran's unmistakable voice behind his head. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Panic settled in, as he turned around to face her. "Eh... I..." he struggled to come up with a decent response. "I... I needed to go to the toilet!"

Her eyebrow raised. "You just went there."

"But I really need to!"

"Conan-kun, you better-"

He didn't get to listen to the end of her scolding because he managed to get away from her grip and rush towards the restroom. _There's no way I'm letting him away with this, _he decided, looking through every single stall.

_You can't hide forever, Onii... chan._

Or maybe he could, he realized as he stared with a blank expression at the completely empty stall, which happened to be the last one. He was the only one in that restroom.

He was alone.

_He must have escaped when I was distracted talking with Ran-neechan._

So he just stayed there, silently still, until the quietness was broken with Ran's angry call. He didn't complain, as the girl took him by the hand and started to drag him away, promising to get a pot for him to pee instead if he didn't behave.

He didn't complain at all. That, above everything, got Ran seriously concerned.

* * *

"What were you thinking?! Why buy lilies?!"

"Man, you're annoying! Anything is fine as long as it's flowers!"

Conan felt his wheelchair stop moving as the two girls paused, looking at each other, confusion written all over their faces. At first, he was feeling puzzled as well, until he recognized those Osaka-accented voices coming from his room.

"You idiot! Lilies symbolize 'beheading', it's bad luck! We came to visit a sick patient!"

"If that's the case, say so from the start, dumbass!"

Evidently so, the child's confused stare shifted to a pretty blank look when he saw them both yelling at each other's faces, not noticing them watching the pair from the doorway.

"Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan!" at Ran's voice, the other two finally turned around. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I heard the kid got injured so we got on a plane right after school," Heiji told her.

"So how is he doing?" Kazuha asked.

"They say he's recovering steadily and should be out in two or three days," Ran explained.

Kazuha was genuinely relieved to hear that, but her relief was soon replaced by annoyment when Heiji sent her to buy some different flowers, alongside Ran and Sonoko ─ so she wouldn't get lost, he had said.

"So, why?" Conan asked immediately after the girls were gone, climbing up the bed.

"How cold!" he grinned, sitting beside him. "After I came all this way to see you!"

"What I'm asking is why did you choose lilies on purpose?" the little boy replied, with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really want me dead that much?"

"So you knew," Heiji laughed a bit. "Of course you did."

Conan's expression did not change.

"I called you this morning because there was something I wanted to talk about, but Occhan picked up instead," Heiji told him. "He said you somehow managed to get shot and almost killed in a camp with your friends. Seriously, how do you-?"

"You're stalling," Conan pointed out, eyes sharpening. "What is it what you wanted to tell me?"

Heiji paused, giving the kid a long look, before sighing. "I investigated Watanabe Satoshi's death, just like you asked," Conan's eyes opened slightly wider at that. "I went to Ekoda Hospital and I found someone that witnessed something interesting."

"Something interesting?"

"The victim talking with some suspicious character late into the night. Long silver hair. Black clothes."

Conan frowned at that. _Gin._

"The witness was Tanaka Taro," Conan's eyes lowered to the mattress as the older boy said that. "He was shot in the head a few days ago. Nobody could found the killer, not even me, no matter how hard I tried. It was like he had vanished into the thin air."

"He was silenced," the child concluded, stroking his chin in deep through.

Heiji settled the flowers in the spot beside him. "Before that, I saw the victim taking with somebody else," he explained, as he leaned back into the mattress. "He seemed to be threatening him and Tanaka-sensei refused, even if this person said they would kill him and his lover."

"Threatening him?!" Heiji was startled at the sudden exclamation. "What do you know about him?"

"Close to nothing, really," the teenage detective blinked. "Only that he's a highschool student... Oh yeah, and he was visiting a friend. His name is Kuroba Kaito."

Conan pondered about it for a moment. _Kuroba Kaito. _Now, that sounded familiar, for some reason. "Then again, that person..." he mumbled to himself, deep in thought. "Could he be Singani?"

"Singani?"

"I asked Haibara-san about the reason for my brother's murder attempt, but she refused to say anything more than the codename 'Singani'," Conan explained. "I suppose that member has something to do with Shinichi-niichan's disappearance, but..."

Heiji gave him a long look. "That guy couldn't be Singani," he said, with certainty. "When he said that his lover could die he was probably just bluffing to pressure Tanaka-sensei to do whatever he wanted him to do. Kato-san is still alive even if a long time has passed ever since."

For some reason that made Conan frown even more.

"You know, Kato-san came to me a few days ago to resume that investigation after her loved died," he told him. "She told me he had told her they were investigating him when Watanabe-sensei died, but he had been nowhere close to the scene of the crime. There wasn't anything that could make him a suspect either."

"So what?" the child replied, lowly, and with a tint of annoyment on his voice.

Hattori sighed. "He was interrogated by Kudo," he said. "Her lover had told her once and she hadn't given any further through, but..."

Now, Hattori had expected any kind of reaction from this kid ─ he had believed nothing could ever surprise him when it came to Conan ─ but indifference was none of them.

Then he realized, it wasn't that he didn't care. Probably, Conan cared _too _much.

"Say," Hattori spoke but Conan didn't even look at him. "How did you know there was something wrong with that fire?"

The child was silent for a few seconds, before sighing. "More than a year ago, Shinichi-niichan sneaked out pretty late into the night, so I followed him," he confessed, fists clenching around the blankets, tightly. "I saw him talking with Gin."

Hattori sat up at that, eyes wide as he stared at the young boy. "Kudo did?!" He really didn't like where this was going.

"Yeah," he nodded, slowly. "I was almost caught by Vodka and had to run away so I didn't hear much, but... I heard _that_. I clearly heard the victim's name. That happened the night before the fire."

None said anything about it. Conan could see Hattori was clearly shaken by the news as he quietly sat there, pale-faced, letting those news dawn on him. When his eyebrows were slightly brought together, the child directed his gaze towards the window.

Conan knew what kind of conclusion Heiji was coming to, and he didn't like it in the sightless.

"Hey, Conan-kun," he started, softly, but the child did not seem to be able ─ or want ─ to acknowledge him. "Conan-kun, look at me," he called, a bit louder. Conan's eyes closed tightly, refusing to do so. "Conan!"

"He is not, okay?!" the child suddenly snapped, angrily, as he turned to face him. When he noticed Hattori wincing a bit at his loud outburst, he paused, then gazed at his hands. They were shaking now. "He... He _can't _be..." Conan forced a smile, which only caused him to look even more miserable. "He wouldn't..."

Heiji did not find the words to answer.

Just sat there, staring at the little boy that had just pulled the covers above his head, hiding himself from the outside word inside the safety of a cocoon of blankets.

And he knew he couldn't help the young detective, even if he desperately wanted to.

* * *

Night had fallen hours ago, yet there he was. Not a soul was supposed to be awake in such an ungodly hour, besides a certain little boy.

The child paid no mind to the late hour as he continued to scroll down in his phone. His eyes rapidly read everything he could find in the web, but there was no difference. Watanabe Satoshi's dead was dubbed an accident, and Tanaka Taro's a mystery. Singani was still an ordinary alcoholic drink, and certainly not related to any scary criminal syndicate.

He knew his entire search would be fruitless, but he needed to find something ─ _anything _─ that could prove Hattori wrong. Conan was sure there must be proof there ─ _there had to be _─ and he needed to find it ─ _he definitely would ─ _so the mystery could finally be solved.

As he continued to look, his phone screen suddenly froze, and mentally cursed Sonoko for letting it fall. He tried to make it work again, anxiety gnawing him from the inside ─ _he had to hurry ─ _and finally, _finally, _it worked.

Then, in the silence of the night, he heard it.

_Click._

Slowly turning his head to the side, he realized what the sound was at the sight of a gun muzzle pointed right at his forehead. Eyes opened, widely, he stared at the face of the girl he certainly didn't expect to be there.

_... H-Haibara-san?!_

"I'm sorry," she said to him, the grip of her gun unwavering. "It seems like the cruel, black blood still circulates inside me."

"What?" Conan managed to choke out.

"Ah, you don't understand? My identity has been discovered," Conan's eyes went wide at those words. "By those people you call 'men in black'."

The child remained perfectly still, frozen in place. He couldn't understand how this came to happen.

To think she would pull something like this...

"How?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

"Singani," she said, and Conan frowned slightly at that. "Turns out he was close to you, _very _close to you, yet you had no idea. He figured out you were aware of the existence of the Organization and started investigating you. It wasn't long until he found out about me and my real identity."

"Then, why aren't you already dead?" Conan's eyes sharpened.

Haibara let out a very cold, yet amused laugh at his response.

"I also thought I'd be killed immediately but they told me that if I return to the Organization, they'd dismiss my betrayal and pretend it never happened. The reason is... they want to continue the Apotoxin-4869 research that came to an abrupt halt from my absence."

"So you came to kill me because I know about the Organization's existence?" Conan forced a confident smile, even if he was sweating profusely and had yet to move a muscle.

"Yes, that was the required condition for taking me back. Of course, all of those that are closest to you will be taken care of tomorrow," her head tilted to a side, and her smirk widened. "I'm sorry, the Professor is being held hostage. Right now, all I can do is try to save him alone."

Conan's teeth clenched. _There's something wrong with what she just said... Very wrong._

"Too bad you didn't realize who Singani was before it was too late."

"... You're lying," he suddenly said, taking the girl by surprise. "He... He wouldn't do that."

"Oh?" her smirk returned. "How do you know?"

Haibara saw hesitation behind those blue eyes, but paid no mind as she placed the gun closer to his head. The boy flinched away, yet remained perfectly still after that.

"Sorry," finally, she said. "I don't have any other choice."

Blue eyes went wide with terror as her finger began to curl around the trigger.

_Bang!_

His heart did not stop, yet started pounding heavily due to the scare he had just gone through. He was shaken, terrified, out of breath and, above all, confused because he had suddenly found himself face to face to a bouquet of small white flowers.

"What would you do?" the flowers were moved away so Conan could be the faint smile on Haibara's face.

"Huh?" he raised an eyebrow.

"If I really was discovered and given the choice, I'd definitely do what I just did," she replied, her voice quiet and even, as she recollected the flowers from the tip of the gun. "Although if that really did happen, they'd probably just kill me and everyone else involved with me."

He watched her go and put them in a nearby vase and found his eyebrow twitching. She had played him like a song, yet again.

"Well, if that were to happen, you'd most likely die first," she laughed, amused. "Seems like even the brightest minds would not work properly if they are in panic, failing to make a escape plan even with a phone on their hands."

The boy blinked twice, before glancing at the device in his hand and groaning, loudly. God, he felt so stupid now.

"Did you come here to roleplay or just to laugh at me?"

"I came to help you face the truth," Haibara replied and at first, Conan did not understand what she meant with that. "It has been more than three months. There's absolutely no way you have no idea of who Singani is."

"I told you I still don't know."

"Ah, really?" Ai smirked. "But, just now, it seemed to me that you knew him pretty well, Kudo-kun."

She didn't get a verbal reply to that, but the way he stared at her for a long moment before his gaze flickered to the night sky behind the window gave her the answer she had been searching for.

So, quietly as ever, the little girl left him alone with his own thoughts.

And he just sat there, a serious expression on his face as he began to think over it again. His gaze fell on the lilies Hattori had brought before and remembered.

"_Lilies symbolize 'beheading'!"_

_I recall Mom saying something about it before... _

Then, beside them, stood those that Haibara had just left behind and slowly slid off his bed. Standing right in front of them, his eyes focused in the snow white, little flowers.

_Hanakotoba, language of flowers._

Ai had brought him a bouquet of edelweiss.

* * *

Conan's lips twitched upwards as he read the ultra-girly sign in front of him. It didn't really take a detective to figure out who was behind that.

"_The Super Love Romance That Surpasses Romeo and Juliet!_

_Shuffle Romance_

_Class 2-B"_

Well, he had read the script before ─ courtesy of the one and only Suzuki Sonoko ─ and he could only describe the play as incredibly corny and sickly sweet.

Hadn't Ran been the protagonist and the fact that he had promised her he would come to see her, he would probably have just played the sick card and stayed home. As things were now, however, the child could only re-positionate his facemask and continue walking inside.

Even if his glasses constantly fogged up from his breath with the mask. _So annoying._

Speaking of annoying, Conan couldn't help but sigh tiredly when he saw two people talking with Sonoko and Ran behind the stage. "Hattori-san and Kazuha-san are here, too?" he said with a plain voice.

Kogoro scowled behind him.

Grinning at him, Hattori waved his hand while Kazuha just smiled at him. Ran, on the other hand, rushed to him.

"Conan-kun, you came!" she smiled at him.

"I told him to stay in bed today since his cold isn't over yet," Kogoro leaned forward to mess with the kid's hair, which only earned him an irritated grunt. "But he wouldn't listen. He said 'I promised, so I have to go'."

Ran looked concerned for a moment before bending down to look at him in the eye. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He seemed to hesitate for a second. "I'm fine," he forced a smile behind his mask.

It didn't seem to convince the girl. "You don't have to force yourself-"

"Don't worry, I'm really okay," he hurriedly said, before glancing up to Kogoro. "Maybe we should get going, or we aren't going to get any good seats," before starting to walk away. "Good luck, Ran-neechan!"

"Don't get stage fright," Kogoro told her before following the child.

"Do your best!" Kazuha grinned, before pulling Heiji with her. "Come on, Heiji!"

"I'm going, I'm going... Geez."

Despite all their support, Ran didn't find herself smiling back. Instead, her lips pressed together in a thin line as she watched Conan's back.

Just now, his usually bright and lively eyes were dull and empty and she could see it, even if he had tried to hide it from her. He didn't look too sick but that made her even more worried instead. Because if it was just a cold, she might know what was going on.

As things were now, she had absolutely no idea of what was going through his young, bright mind.

* * *

"You need to do better than that, you know that, right?"

Conan blinked up at Hattori, who was sitting right beside him. "What do you mean?" he asked, genuine confusion plastered in his features.

"You aren't fooling anyone with those unusually awful acting skills," the detective of the West explained. "Anyone can see you aren't okay from a mile away."

Finally understanding the meaning behind his words, Conan looked away from him and towards the stage, even if the curtains had yet to be risen.

"What do you expect me to do?" the little boy replied, with an exasperated sigh. "I _can't _just tell Ran-neechan... It would break her heart."

"But what about yours?" Heiji frowned, slightly.

And as he had expected, the kid did not reply. His eyes were hidden by the light reflecting on his glasses, making it impossible for Heiji to know what he was thinking.

"Tell me, Conan," the child didn't even look at him, yet he could hear the genuine concern on the Osakan voice. It didn't make it better for him, though. "What's in your mind, at this moment?"

The fragments of old forgotten memories he would see in his dreams. Articles he had read about the incident from one year ago. Hattori's words as he told him about his investigation.

The gun. That sharp feeling on his neck. The scar on his shoulder. Blood transfusions. Pain. Fear. Tears.

"_Onii-chan!"_

A hand gently stroking his hair as he fell asleep.

Shinichi's icy cold eyes.

It all came into his mind, jumbled together without making any sense, but managed to give the little child a mild headache.

"A lot," he simply replied, finally facing him, honest for the first time in a while.

Heiji's stared into those troubled eyes before his gaze softened and placed his hand on top of the child's little shoulder.

Conan did not flinch away at the contact, just smiled softly. "I'm sorry for snapping at you the other day. It wasn't right," his eyes closed and his hands clenched against each other. "It's just that... I don't know, there's so much going on."

"I know, kid," Heiji's hand squeezed his shoulder, trying to show his comfort. "I know."

After all, Hattori could tell. He could be a brilliant, mature and impressively perceptive child, but at the end of the day Conan was just that, a young little boy that had a far too heavy burden on his small shoulders. He shouldn't be dealing with all of this.

But Heiji knew that, even if it was still very young, Conan was a detective. If he, or anyone, tried to stop him, he would still find a way to search for the truth.

Heiji understood that feeling perfectly. Because they were the same.

Before he could say anything, however, the lights suddenly went off.

"We will now begin Class 2-B's play, '_Shuffle Romance',_" a voice said over the speakers. "Please enjoy it."

Conan smiled to himself, leaning against the seat and watched the curtains open to show Ran, dressed as a princess, standing behind a castle's tower window, hands clasped together.

"Oh, almighty God Zeus, why do you ignore me like this?" Ran began, before pressing her hands against her face, sobbing. "Or are you saying that I should accept this cursed marriage I do not desire?"

"Yo, I've been waiting for your big entrance!" Kogoro's yell echoed in the entire school theater. As a result, every single soul stared at him, so he laughed awkwardly. "That's my daughter."

Laughter erupted in the room prompting Kazuha, who sat right beside him, to try to shrink away from sight. "How embarrassing," she blushed. "I don't like this seat."

Sighing tiredly, the child focused back on the play. Now Ran was sitting in a carriage, knights surrounding her as they advanced. Suddenly, a group of bandits attacked and Conan couldn't really be impressed. _It was obvious this was going to happen._

"Who goes there?" one of the knights suddenly yelled. "Don't you know this is the Bridge Kingdom's Princess Heart?"

Heiji scoffed. "Of course they knew, isn't it obvious they want to attack her?" Conan watched as he rested his cheek on his open palm.

"Believe me, I have been forced to watch loads of plays by my mother," Conan rolled his eyes. "_This_ is far from the most nonsensical one I had seen."

"Really?"

"It was an adaptation from the Greek myth '_The Golden Apple',_" he commented. "Turned out Paris was actually the archangel Michael."

"That was so random," Hattori stifled a laugh. "Well, at least nobody died, right-?"

"The actor who played Michael. Shot in the chest. In the middle of the play."

"Ouch."

"Yeah," Conan frowned, turning back to the play. "I hope nobody gets killed this time around..."

"Hey, no need to be so gloomy..."

When Ran's bodyguards were all defeated and the princess dragged away from her carriage, Kazuha suddenly raised from her seat and started screaming. "Ran-chan, use your karate!" at that Heiji, who sat beside her, visibly winced. "You can take care of these freaks!"

Heiji sweatdropped. "Not it's _me _who doesn't like this seat."

A pitch black, crow's feather danced into the air in front of their eyes, causing the princess' kidnappers to look away from their victim. Then, a dark figure fell from the sky, slashing through one of the men's chest.

"T-The Black Cloaked Knight!" the other screamed.

The black knight said nothing as he slowly stood up, letting the audience to see a boy, covered in a black cloak and a helmet that hid his face to everyone else. Kazuha squealed ─ because he was oh-so-cool! ─ while Conan could only stare.

"What a show off..." Heiji commented.

Yet the child said nothing, as he gazed at the cloaked figure in the middle of the stage, completely dressed in black. _Black, _he sighed, with a resigned smile. Now that he thought about it, Ran had said that the knight's image was based on Shinichi's. _How ironic._

"Oh, unnamed knight with your black cloak, if you will grant me my wish," Ran continued, once the enemy had retreated in fear. "Please take off that dark mask and show me your true face!"

The knight didn't do as he was asked and, instead, turned around to face the princess. Wordlessly, he walked closer to her and tenderly enveloped Ran in a hug.

The entire audience was thrilled. Kogoro was pissed.

And Conan was surprised. _That wasn't in the script, was it?_

It seemed like Ran didn't expect it either if the genuine shock on her face was something to go by, but then decided to play along. "Oh, might you be Spade?" she broke the hug to look at his hidden face. "Long ago, you were banned from this land by my father, but now you've become prince of the Trump Kingdom," she leaned closer. "If you have not forgotten about our childhood promise... Then please... please show me on these lips."

As they face slowly inched closer, Kogoro lost it so badly that Kazuha had to physically restrain him. Heiji only watched them, amused, before turning to the child.

There was a frown carved on his face. _To suddenly change the script so he would hug Ran-neechan... It's so unlike Araide-sensei,_ he realized. _Then... Then who is beneath that helmet?_

Princess Heart and the Black Knight didn't get to kiss, however. A scream broke through the room, startling everyone.

And man laid dead on the floor, his empty cup open and forgotten at his side.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: They probably will in the future, but for now I'm not quite sure when. If Kogoro and Ran found out about it, I'm sure they wouldn't let Conan roam around that freely, so it's a bit tricky to figure out the right time.

Dy: Thanks for pointing it out my mistake! And I agree to what you said about how Conan calls Shinichi. In fact, I hestitated about putting it in the first time Conan called Shinichi 'Onii-chan'. What I wanted at the time, however, was to show a side of Conan that was a bit more childish, that he would only show around his brother once he began to warm up to him a tiny bit. I believed it was sweet at that time, but I don't know, lol!

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Yeah, I'm probably going to stick to the canon, with some changes here and there, until a bit towards the end of this story. I might change my mind before that, however.


	28. The Return of the Great Detective

**File Twenty-Eight: The Return of the Great Detective**

The victim's name was Kamata Kouhei, a doctor that worked at Beika General Hospital. He had suddenly dropped during the romance scene of the play ─ at around 14:40, according to Ran.

When Inspector Megure noticed the girl, he began looking around for someone else. He found Mouri Kogoro right away walking towards him, and he couldn't help but sigh. _That murder magnet. He even brought a disaster case to his own daughter's high school._

"So, no one came near the body, right?" the inspector asked him.

"Of course not, Inspector. Maintaining the scene of a crime is an investigative no-brainer-"

"It smells like almonds."

At the young voice all eyes instantly fell on the source. None of them were actually surprised to see little Conan, crouched next to the body. Before they could say anything, he turned to Heiji, who was kneeling down right next to him.

"Does that mean it's Potassium Cyanide, Hattori-san?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, most likely," Heiji nodded. "You can also tell by looking at his lips and nails. They're pink, instead of purple. Maybe, next time, you can focus on those things instead of just sniffing. It's so dangerous you could die."

Conan rolled his eyes. He knew it was, but there shouldn't be any problem if he was careful.

"Conan-kun!"

When he was suddenly raised into the air, he looked up at Ran's serious face and he understood why he had said those things. Heiji was looking him with a big grin on his face, and he couldn't help but groan, annoyed.

_That's for getting me in trouble all those times, _Hattori thought, holding up two fingers in a 'V' shape.

_Just wait until I get back at you, Hattori, _Conan's eyebrow twitched.

Hattori wasn't intimidated at all by his glare, just grinned even wider before turning back to the Inspector, causing the child huff in irritation.

Then, the little boy suddenly felt something. A weird burning sensation into the back of his neck prompting him to slowly turn around and look over his shoulder.

The black knight was there, standing right behind Ran and, therefore, standing right behind him. Unmoving. Eerily still.

Now, he couldn't really see his face, but Conan knew. Whoever was beneath that helmet was staring at him, if the way his skin tingled was something to go by. Yet, the child couldn't understand why.

Then, the knight seemed to smile, faintly, at him.

And Conan blinked, feeling officially lost.

* * *

Kogami Mai, the one that had bought the drinks and left it with her friends before going to the bathroom.

Ninagawa Ayako, the victim's former fiance that had poured the drinks in the cup, hoping that he would return for a change.

Mitani Yota, the one that had handed the drinks Kogami had bought.

And Yumemi Noda, the one that sat right next to the victim.

Even if he had absolutely no idea of how they had made the victim drink the potion, Heiji was sure that the culprit was one of those four.

At least, until Takagi told Megure that he had found some unused milk and gun syrup in Kamata's pocket and Ayako confessed that she had put coke in purpose so he would come back for a change.

"So, that's why my drink was also coke!" Mai realized. "I almost put in gum syrup and milk."

After that, everything began to make sense to him.

Claiming that Kamata had been acting strange, searching around the dashboard for stuff, so all three of them had to take Takagi to the car, to look for clues.

The black knight watched out the window as the four ran under the heavy rain, covering their heads with their arms in a fruitless attempt to not get soaked.

Conan's eyes narrowed as he watched the black figure pulling the curtain back and head to the door, before stepping up to follow him.

When a hand suddenly fell on his shoulder.

"Hey, kid, you realize it too, right?" he looked over Hattori, who had a smile on his face. "The culprit who placed the poison is most likely _that _person. The drink Kamata-han left open, the mixed up iced coffee, plus that person's strange lines... I know how the trick was done!"

The child said nothing as he looked back at the doorway and realized, with a heavy sigh, that the black knight was nowhere to be found. He must have gotten away when he was distracted with Heiji, the kid realized.

"Now, if only there was proof, everything would... Hey, are you even listening?"

Conan blinked twice. "Ah, sorry," he offered him an apologetic smile under his face mask. "I don't have a clue who the criminal is."

"Eh?" now it was Heiji's turn to blink. "Hey, hey, were you even paying attention to the testimonies?"

Conan looked away and that was enough for Hattori to realize he hadn't heard a thing.

"_Now_ I'm worried," he commented. "That's so unlike you."

"It's not a big deal. That's probably just my cold messing with me."

"The other time you had a cold, it was so bad that you _fainted, _if I remember correctly," Hattori raised an eyebrow at him. "But you still solved the case."

The child said nothing in return and just shrugged, barely paying attention to Takagi returning with what seemed to be a vial of cyanide. Even Conan himself was surprised about his lack of focus in this case, but it wasn't like he could help it.

Everytime he wanted to pay attention, his eyes would drift to that mysterious black knight. He couldn't point it out, but something was amiss with that person... There was something familiar about the way he walked and observed his surroundings.

_Speaking of which, where did he go?_

"From these circumstances, we can conclude this was a suicide," decided Inspector Megure.

"Please wait, Inspector Megure!"

The voice boomed in the entire room, earning the attention of everyone. All gazes fell on the dark figure standing at the entrance, quietly still even as thunder violently roared and the sky flashed behind his back.

"This wasn't suicide," the Black Knight declared. "But rather, a simple and basic... murder."

And, like so, he began to slowly walk closer to the inspector, unaffected by all the states currently following his movements, the way Ran's eyes opened, widely, or Conan's narrowed.

"Right, Kamata-san was poisoned," the figure dressed in black stated. "Under the cover of darkness, in front of the floating stage. Where his incurable habit was used against him. Furthermore, the culprit should still have that evidence. If my deduction of this bold crime is, in fact, the truth."

"Y-You are...?!" Megure stammered.

The Black Knight smirked.

"Long time no see, Inspector Megure," and, just like that, he took off his helmet.

Conan took a look of his face. His eyes opened, wider than ever before, as he stared. Shocked. Speechless. Dumbfounded.

"I'm Kudo Shinichi."

Everyone gasped, astonishment written all over their features. Ran merely stared at him, mouth slightly open in shock as if she still could not believe that the person she was seeing in front of her was real.

And Conan just stared.

Once the shock had somewhat receded, the students started to cheer for their local detective. Shinichi, in turn, just glanced at them from over his shoulder, before placing his finger in front of his mouth. "Shh, silence," he shushed them. "We'll continue the celebration after I lower the curtains on this bloody stage."

They all obeyed instantly.

At the sight of that, Conan's shock drained a little bit, feeling his eyebrow starting to twitch. "Still a show off," he said under his breath.

Despite of how low the child had pronounced his words, Shinichi still heard. His gaze fell on the little boy and he found himself smiling, crouching down next to him and placing a gloved hand on top of his head.

"It has been a long time, Conan."

"We both know it hasn't been that long," the kid replied with a slight smirk.

Shinichi couldn't hold back a laugh. "Nothing ever escapes you, does it?"

"Nothing, except you."

The teenage detective ruffled his hair at that, earning a grunt from his younger brother, before standing up, grinning wider at the sight of the glare sent his way.

"Shinichi?" Ran's hesitant voice came from behind him, so he turned around to see a pair of surprised eyes staring at him. "Are you really Shinichi?"

"Huh? You silly," he sighed. "Stop talking like you just got out of bed," then, he leaned closer and whispered. "I have something important to tell you later, so don't run!"

Ran blinked, cluelessly.

"By the way, Hattori," Heiji started when he noticed Shinichi's attention on him. "Do you have a dime?"

"Yeah, I have one or two, but what are you going to...?" he saw his fellow detective smirking towards the culprit's way and understood. "Ah, I get it."

Shinichi gave a perfect deduction thereafter. Kamata had the habit of munching on the leftover ice and, therefore, the killer had decided to put the poison on the ice cubes, which had been brought in a small purse, which he had found on the washroom's garbage, alongside dry ice.

Therefore, the only one that could've put them in was Kogami Mai. She had pretended to eat the ice on her drink, then hid it somewhere else.

So, he flipped a coin. It landed on her hood, and came out rust-free and sparkling.

The killer had no other choice to confess. She told everyone that she had, indeed, murdered Kamata Kohei because he had given a patient, whose symptoms contradicted his thesis, the wrong medication on purpose. As a result, the patient had passed away to protect his theory.

Soon, the culprit was taken away.

"Somehow, Heiji seemed more like the assistant than the magician today," Kazuha teased.

"There's nothing I could do," Heiji tried to defend himself. "This is Tokyo, I had to let Kudo hold the flowers."

Conan rolled his eyes. "It seemed to me that you had to let Shinichi-niichan hold the flowers because you didn't have the sightless idea of how to."

"Like you're the one to talk," Heiji scoffed. "You didn't even know who the culprit was until now."

"How was I supposed to know?" he protested, whining childishly. "I'm only a child. There's a lot of things I don't know!"

"Yeah, Conan-kun is right!" Kazuha argued. "It's not okay to bully a child, Heiji!"

"E-Eh, but..." he glanced the child stifling his laugh with his hand and felt irritation blossoming on him. _I'm the one getting bullied..._

Conan laughed a bit louder before something else caught his attention. Megure was excitedly talking to his brother now, offering him to meet with the reporters for the case hearing, but expectedly so, the boy declined.

He asked for his name to be kept a secret. And for Conan, it made sense he would ask such a thing.

Even if he wished it didn't.

"Hey, Kudo," Hattori spoke. "Why didn't you go to the case hearing?"

"A trick is nothing but a puzzle mankind came up with," he said, with a soft groan that went unnoticed by everyone, except from the child, whose eyes narrowed a bit. "If you use your head, you can uncover the logical answer."

Conan examined his brother and realized, with a faint sense of panic, that he was sweating profusely. His breathing was also becoming more ragged and shallow, as he was feeling an incredible pain.

"It's disappointing. No matter the explanation I think of, I cannot understand why one person would kill another," Shinichi managed to say between gasps. "Even if I can see why, I can't understand why. Not even..."

Heiji looked at him for a second, stunned for some reason when he heard those words. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't have the time to say anything because Shinichi was suddenly clenching a hand against his chest, and giving out a loud grunt of pain.

"Shinichi-niichan," Conan tried to say. "Are you...?"

The little boy couldn't even finish his sentence, because the Great Detective of the East suddenly dropped into his knees, breathing rapidly while still holding his chest, tighter than before.

Everyone panicked.

"Shinichi? What's wrong, Shinichi?" Ran's sweet voice came through the pain and soon saw her face, her expressive eyes looking at him, filled with confusion and concern. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

While it greatly upsetted Shinichi to no belief seeing his dearest childhood friend worried about him, there was something else that shook him to the core.

"Onii-chan..."

The young voice, low enough so nobody but him would hear, prompted him to look at the pair of big blue eyes staring right into his. While the worry was evident on them, there was something about it that threw him off. The tiny frown and the sharp glint they took, as if he, somehow, could understand what was going on.

And Conan was scared. Terribly so.

His muscles failed him, and soon he found himself dizzily pitching forward into the ground.

Conan's little hand was on his shoulder, desperately shaking him, screaming at him to hold on. Yet, soon, his voice was too far away for Shinichi to understand.

Before passing out, he managed to give his little brother another look. His bright blue eyes were staring right at him.

_He doesn't know... does he?_

That was his last thought before everything went pitch black.

* * *

Fortunately, the problem had been solved by Hattori and Conan right away.

The teen had instantly called out to everyone, pleading them not to say a word about Shinichi's involvement to anyone, while the child somehow convinced Ran that his brother had probably been sleep deprived ─ which wasn't _that _far fetched, considering the teen had the habit of not sleeping until a case he was working on was closed or simply collapsed from exhaustion.

Thankfully, everything had more of less settled down. With a tired sigh, Hattori leaned into the wall of the infirmary as they waited for Shinichi to wake up. He briefly glanced towards Conan, who sat on the bed right next to him, worry etched on his features.

The kid had told him about the drug Kudo had been given so he could understand the child's concern. _Even if he still isn't certain of Kudo's involvement with the Black Organization, that kid is still worried sick, _he observed. _Understandable, considering he's still his brother._

Still, there was something that didn't fit at all with Hattori's suspicions. Right before he fainted, Kudo had said something about not being able to understand why a human would murder another. Heiji could have brushed that comment off, label it as another criminal lying his way off.

Except this wasn't the case. As a detective, Heiji was used to read the body language of the people he considered suspicious, and he wasn't afraid to say that he was pretty good at it.

So he either was a professional liar, or Kudo was simply telling the truth.

What was really going on?

"Shinichi-niichan," Conan's voice brought his attention back to the real world, and he realized that Kudo's eyes were flickering open.

"Oh, Kudo!" Heiji smiled. "You're awake!"

"I'm so relieved you woke up," Kazuha sighed.

"Geez, don't worry me like that!" Ran scolded him, lightly.

Shinichi said nothing in return, just sat up while staring, wide eyed, at the people gathering around his bed. Conan noticed his mouth opening and closing, as if he had no idea of what to say, so he spoke first.

"When was the last time you slept?" the very incriminating look he was given prompted him to blink. "I just asked you a question that is not very hard to answer, so now I'm getting worried."

"Eh...?"

"So you really didn't!" Ran shouted at him. "Really, Shinichi, when are you going learn how to get care of yourself?!"

Shinichi seemed to be confused for a moment, until he realized what everyone believed that had happened to him, so he let out an awkward laugh, deciding that it was better to just play along for the time being.

As Ran scolded him, sternly so, Shinichi briefly glanced at his younger brother, who was currently muffing his laugh with his hand at the sight of the girl reprimanding him.

_So that was what was going through his mind at that time, _he thought, mentally sighing in relief. _Conan doesn't know, then._

"Hey, Shinichi, are you listening to me?!"

He didn't notice, however, the child's eyes sharpening as soon as Shinichi's gaze focused back on Ran.

Soon the commotion died down enough for the people to leave Shinichi to rest for a bit before he could return home. It took a while to convince Ran that it would be okay to leave the teenage boy alone for awhile, but Conan managed, after assuring her that he was going to call her if something happened.

Like so, the two brothers were left alone.

An uncomfortable silence ensued thereafter, none of them having an idea of what to say to each other. Because of that neither of the siblings tried to start a conversation, just stared awkwardly at each other.

After an undetermined amount of time, which passed by excruciatingly slow, Conan saw his brother groaning softly, cradling his head with his hand as if he was having a massive headache.

"Here," Shinichi blinked, cluelessly when the little boy in front of him pulled out a small vial from his pocket and took out a weird pill, offering it to him.

He accepted it, blinking owlishly, before briefly examining it. It definitely didn't look similar to any painkiller he had seen in his entire life. Eyes narrowing, as he noticed it was a capsule, half red and half white.

It looked exactly like...

_The silver haired man gave out a sickening smile as he pulled out something from his black cloak, holding it in front of his eyes so he would see it. The drug was so tiny and innocent-looking that nobody would ever think of it as anything else than an ordinary medicine._

_Oh, how wrong they would be. Because Shinichi knew perfectly what it was capable of. And he didn't like it one bit._

_Yet, he didn't show it. He wouldn't give the man in front of him the satisfaction._

_At least until the pill was forced down his throat._

_Then, he genuinely screamed. The pain was so much to handle._

When the vial was suddenly whisked away from his hands, Conan couldn't help but let out a startled yelp. But he said nothing, just silently stared as his brother turned the vial over and over again, inspecting its contents with the look of a madman.

Then he read the label and practically felt his blood draining:

"_APTX-4869 ─ Prototype Antidote."_

Then, he looked up to his younger brother, staring at him so intensely that actually made the child back up a little. _How did he...? _he couldn't even put his thoughts in order. _Just... Just how?!_

"Onii-chan?" the child gave him the most innocent look he could muster. "Are you sure you are okay?"

He only watched his brother's mouth opening and closing, repeatedly and without making any noise. Conan struggled to maintain a straight face and not to show how amusing Shinichi's confusion actually was to him.

"Conan," he finally managed, motioning to the vial on his hands. "Where... Where did you get this?"

_And how in the actual hell do you know I was poisoned and how exactly did you figure out how to make an antidote for such a extremely secret and dangerous drug?!_

Then, he remembered the little girl he had seen before on Conan's hospital room. _She didn't, did she?_

"Haibara-san gave it to me. She said Professor Agasa created it," he replied, slowly, before pausing. Then, he sighed deeply. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Shinichi looked away, not wanting to face the child. "Conan, I... The truth is-"

"You should have told me you had been suffering from migraines ever since you were my age!"

...

_... Eh?_

The older detective raised his head, holding Conan's glare with a clueless blink. For the longest moment, he didn't say anything, until his lips curved into a smile.

"Ah, I didn't realize it has been labeled before!" the child continued. "What does it say?"

"Oh, no, nothing to worry about," then, he peeled the label off in front of his curious eyes. "I don't want you to go search about my condition and worry yourself. Because it's not that serious, really."

"But seriously, Onii-chan, you should've told me!"

Then, with a chuckle, he apologized to the child and promised not to do that again. Whatever it was.

_This is fine, _he thought, giving a long look at the pill in his hand. _As long as he doesn't know._

Before he took the pill, without hesitation, before returning the vial to his younger brother, who gave him a strangely pleased smile

* * *

The sound of his alarm blared in the middle of the silent morning, causing the little boy to groan and bury himself deeper in his nest of blankets, in a feeble attempt to retrain his sleep.

Not wanting to open his eyes, he just lied there, gathering enough willpower to finally get up...

There was something missing though. Dimly he wondered what it was.

Until it fell on him. _Occhan. _At this point, Kogoro would be probably growling at him to kill that alarm. But he wasn't.

Finally, his eyes opened to see the ceiling of his room. His _old _room.

_Ah, right, _he slowly realized, reaching with his hand to his phone to finally shutting the alarm off and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand. Sighing tiredly he sat up on his bed, trying to rub the sleep off his eyes when he noticed he could hear another different alarm from the room next to his. _Why doesn't he turn it off? Did he sleep right through it or something?_

Sleepily glancing at his right, towards the door, so he would shout to his brother to wake him up, he noted something strange. He blinked slowly, noticing the figure covered in blankets beside him, before taking a closer look.

Conan saw his brother, peacefully sleeping at his side, and jumped.

"What are you doing here?!" he shouted, but he only got an incoherent mumble in response. So, with a resigned sigh, he began to shake him. "Hey, Onii-chan, wake up," at his lack of response, the child opted to pull the sheets away from him. "You're going to be late."

Shinichi just snored away, and the child could only rub his temples, already exhausted even if it was so early in the morning. _Seriously, and here I thought Ran-neechan was quite the heavy-sleeper..._

That was until his eyes fell on something else in the nightstand and his lips curved into a mischievous grin. Like so, the child took his bowtie and turned the dial.

"SHINICHI!" he shouted, at full volume, using Ran's voice.

The angry voice of his childhood friend, who he was secretly very afraid of, prompted Shinchi to wake up with a start and instantly roll over. Conan blinked at the sight of his older brother sprawled across the floor, after his sudden awakening.

Before, of course, bursting out laughing like any self-respecting sibling would do.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Shinichi rolled his eyes as he pulled himself up. "Good morning to you, too, Conan."

Conan shrugged, watching as Shinichi began to stumble towards the bathroom.

"What were you doing here?" the child asked before he could leave.

The older brother paused for a moment. "You had a nightmare last night," at those words, Conan gave him a surprised look. "I barely managed to pull you out of it. It was pretty bad, wasn't it?"

Seeing the little boy suddenly fixing his look on the mattress prompted the teenager to sigh and walk closer to the bed.

"I heard from Ran that you've been having a lot of those lately," with that, he sat right beside him. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Yet the child did not talk, only frowned deeper, clenching his hands on top of his lap.

"You know, Conan, is perfectly normal to have nightmares," he tried to reassure him with a smile and went to give him a comforting pat on his head. "There's nothing to be embarrassed of-"

"We're going to be late for school."

Ducking his brother's hand, Conan hopped off the bed and rushed out the room, leaving the older boy cluelessly looking at the place the child had just been disappeared from, wondering what was all of that about.

* * *

When Ran stood in front of the Kudo House a weird nostalgic feeling washed all over her. Then, hesitation took hold as her finger hovered over the doorbell button. What was she going to do if nobody walked out the door even if she rung the bell?

... _I'm just being silly, _she thought to herself. _Even if that deduction maniac doesn't appear, Conan-kun is still inside._

"Aren't you going to ring?"

The young voice at her side started her, badly, prompting her to spun around. Upon noticing the little strawberry blonde girl standing right beside her she calmed down and, ignoring the disturbingly stoic look she was giving her, Ranlet out a sigh, holding a hand on her chest.

"You scared me, Ai-chan," Ran said, yet Haibara did not reply. Even so, after recovering a bit, she offered her a smile. "Are you here for Conan-kun?"

Haibara shrugged.

"Well, it makes sense, you two are neighbors now," Ran pointed out.

The girl, again, did not answer. Not giving it another thought, Ran turned to the doorbell and finally pressed it once.

Or maybe twice.

"Hey?" came Shinichi's voice over the intercom.

Thrice.

"Hey!"

Four times. Five times.

"Geez, you're annoying!" at the sixth time, Shinichi's angry face appeared through the bars of the gate. "Just ring once and I'll hear you!"

With that, he stepped out so the two girls could go inside, walking inside without giving Ran another look, a toast on his mouth.

"Hey, Shinichi," spoke Ran. "Are you sure you understand today's school schedule?"

"I bet it's like last year, with everyone cleaning up from the festival," he rested his hand on top of the door handle. "I'm going to go get ready, so wait here."

Before she could say anything, the door was slammed in Ran's face, who blinked a bit in surprise.

"Hey, that was unnecessarily rude," she could hear Conan's unmistakably voice from inside. "I can only wonder why she's still friends with you."

The door opened, welcoming the two girls with the sight of a very annoyed looking Conan. "Good morning Ran-neechan..." then his eyes fixed to the child next to her and blinked a bit. "... and Haibara-san?"

Haibara said nothing, just squinted her eyes slightly before walking right past him and inside the house without saying a word.

"... Yeah, of course, you can come in," Conan said, sarcastically, before mumbling under his breath. "Really, what's up with her?"

Ran giggled, slightly, before coming inside when the little boy moved aside so he could welcome her inside.

"Sit wherever you want, Ran-neechan. Shinichi-niichan will be ready in a moment," he glanced towards his brother, as he _slowly _made his way towards the bathroom, while yawning loudly. "... I hope."

The girl just smiled, slightly. _He's here. Shinichi's here! _she thought, looking at the boy. _It's not a dream, he really came back!_

Not only that, he was actually going back to school, again, after an entire year of absence. She had been a bit confused at first until he had explained that the principal had decided to make an exception for Shinichi, since the detective had once helped him out with a case and was in debt to him.

She wondered how he would be able to catch up, yet he didn't seem bothered at all in the sightless.

_I should start photocopying my notes, I guess, _she thought, with an amused smile on her face.

Conan blinked, wondering for a second what she was all happy about. At least, until she asked him.

"Isn't this great, Conan-kun?"

When he understood what she meant, Conan nodded with a bright smile.

Even if that smile wasn't completely genuine. Because, a part of him knew, this was too good to be true.

_The Black Organization is still out there, _once out of her sight, he let his smile drop. _Why is he here, all of sudden, pretending that nothing happened at all?_

So, to say that Conan was confused was an understatement. Was he really meant to pretend that everything ─ the fire in Ekoda Hospital, the drug, the organization, his scattered memories, _every single thing _─ did not happen at all?

A part of him wondered. Wouldn't it best if he did just that? It was easier to forget and, quite frankly, the child was scared to know what secrets lied deep inside his brother's heart. Nobody would get hurt, and everything would be perfect. Just like today.

But a deeper part of him knew he would be living a lie. A fake reality that would lead everyone to live happily oblivious to the darkest secrets that lurk outside their bubble.

Yet...

_What's the correct answer, really?_

With a sigh, he turned around to ask Haibara what she was doing on his house, but found himself staring at Ran, sitting alone in the couch as she messed around with her phone. _Where did Haibara-san...?_

He found her rather quickly, exiting the bathroom with the same expressionless look she always wore, before his brother came out as well.

Conan blinked

* * *

"But I was really shocked to find you as the black cloaked knight," Ran commented as the four of them walked towards school. "I'm surprised you wanted to be the main character, since you didn't memorize your lines."

At the confusion that crossed Shinchi's face, which then turned into irritation, Conan knew Sonoko had something to do with it. _That explains a lot, actually, _he thought. _He wouldn't just hug Ran out the blue if that wasn't the case._

"If you kept ignoring the script like that, the play would've been a disaster!"

_After it had to be canceled because a murder, I can only wonder why she doesn't consider it a disaster already._

Sighing a bit to himself, Conan crossed his arms behind his head and kept on walking, listening at the conversation the teenagers were having.

At least, until he heard.

"Did you give it to him?" Haibara asked him, out the blue.

Conan gave her a nod. "It's impressive, though," he commented. "That you managed to create an antidote without the data."

"It's a _prototype _antidote," she stressed out. "This is supposed to help him last a little longer... Or he might just drop dead in a few hours and I will be forced to declare this test as a failure," a smirk appeared on her face. "You'd be the prime suspect if that happened."

"Hey, hey..."

"Just joking," she shrugged. "He should be okay, don't worry. I'm pretty confident on this version."

Conan glared at her for a moment, before sighing heavily. "By the way, there's something that has been bothering me ever since you gave me those pills the other day," he said. "How did you know my brother was around? I didn't tell anyone yet."

"I could tell from those times you contemplated the sky so dramatically. As if you were the protagonist of a TV drama," she answered right away. "It was obvious just by looking at you that you knew that Shinichi-san was around."

She pointedly ignored the annoyed glance he shoot her way and kept on walking. Realizing he would never get the upper hand with this girl, the boy rolled his eyes, continuing his way in silence.

It was quiet between the two, the teenagers' conversation was the only thing keeping the ambient from being too silent. Ran and Shinichi continued on talking, catching up in what they had missed, unaware of what was going on inside the children's mind.

The girl was the first one to break their silence, again.

"So?" Conan looked at Haibara, questioningly. He waited for her to continue, yet she didn't.

"So what?"

"You know what I mean, Kudo-kun," her eyes narrowed a tiny bit. "At this point you must have figured _that _out already."

Conan frowned a little bit, looking away from her annoyingly knowing eyes. "You know I can't come into any conclusion if I don't have any proof."

"You're in drowning in denial," the girl told him. "Living on borrowed time, attempting to maintain this fantasy of an ideal reality... Afraid of the truth."

"I'm not afraid of anything, Haibara-san."

"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Conan didn't find in himself to answer. "Every single person in this world is deeply afraid of something and you're not the exception, Kudo-kun. Even if, in your case, it's a bit contradictory."

The boy said nothing, as he glanced over his shoulder to his older brother. He was laughing loudly now, after teasing Ran about something he hadn't heard about, while adjusting his hat on his head better.

A hat that covered his hair and obscured his face from plain sight.

"Conan-kun, Haibara-san!" Ayumi's voice filled the boy's ears, prompting the two children to look that way.

They saw their three friends rushing towards them, to meet them.

"Congratulations on your recovery!" Mitsuhiko smiled to Conan.

The little boy smiled back at them and was about to say something back at them when he noticed his friends' gaze shifting away from them and towards the teenage boy, blinking curiously.

"Yo," upon noticing the looks he was receiving he waved, raising his hat a tiny bit so they could see their face.

The three children gasped, before dragging Conan away. Shinichi couldn't help but sweatdrop a little bit at the sight of his brother's friends surrounding him, asking him countless of questions in hushed voices.

"Conan-kun, isn't that Shinichi-oniisan?"

"When did he come back?"

"Why didn't you say anything, Conan?!"

He saw Conan sighing, tiredly, before beginning to explain everything to them with such a patience he had never seen in that child before. And Shinichi just stood there, watching the five kids talk with each other, without realizing the faint smile painting his features.

Never in his wildest dreams he would have imagined Conan getting along so well with children of his own age.

"Shinichi!" he hadn't realized he had stared for so long until he heard Ran, who was already walking away after giving Conan a brief wave. "Come on, hurry or we'll be late!"

"Ah, wait up, Ran!" he glanced at Conan. "See you, Conan," he told him, rushedly, before running to catch up with his childhood friend.

The little boy, in turn, just nodded and watched him go. His blue eyes narrowed slightly, as he watched his older brother walking with Ran to school, laughing about something he said to her.

_A detective who fears the truth... Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I don't know if I will do that movie yet, but I might do that. I need to watch it again sometime, however, since I don't remember a thing, lol!

Yose Hyuann: Yeah, I'm currently writing the second movie, so it should be a matter of time until I publish it... I hope XD And about Shinichi and Heiji, it would be pretty fun if that happened, lol! It might happen somewhere in the future.

Dy: Ah, another silly mistake, lol! Thank you for pointing it out, I've fixed it already.


	29. The Worst Luck Ever

**File Twenty-Nine: The Worst Luck Ever**

Nothing.

It didn't matter where he looked ─ newspapers, testimonies, articles on the web, TV reports ─ he found nothing. There was basically nothing about that case he hadn't heard before.

Even if he had been researching for hours, even declining his friends' invitation to go play soccer in the park so he could get home early. He had barely put his bag on the floor before sitting on the table to begin searching for more clues.

Because there _had _to be something out there he had missed. _Anything._

His hand hurt a lot after writing non-stop for such a long amount of time. His wristwatch lied somewhere on the table, after taking it off ─ at some point, it had become uncomfortable to have it on.

Looking down at his scribbles on his notebook made Conan want to groan in frustration, bang his head against the table until realization came into his mind suddenly.

Knowing that, as his luck would have it, he would only manage to give himself a nasty concussion instead of a sense of enlightenment, he scrolled down even more on the internet search on his mobile phone.

Then his screen suddenly froze. _Come on, _he sighed in his mind, burying his head on his arms. _Could my luck get any worse?_

"I'm home!"

With a muffled yelp Conan flipped his phone close and flipped the page on his notebook over, quickly scribbling something down before replying. "Welcome back," he said, rushedly, without even looking up.

He successfully hid the newspapers he had been looking at inside his math book.

"What are you doing?" his brother peered over his shoulder to see, curiously. "Math?"

"Your observation skills are impressive, Onii-chan."

"It just that... It's weird to see you this focused in your homework," Shinichi commented, rolling his eyes. "Do you need any help?"

"No need," Conan said with a smile. "It's not that difficult, really. It just that it's simply too much. I missed more than two entire weeks of school, after all."

"Ah, of course," his brother commented, laughing a bit to himself. _Of course Conan wouldn't find schoolwork difficult, that little know-it-all._

He was confused, however, when Conan suddenly stood up, taking his math book and notebook with him. "I'm doing this in the library," he decided. "It's too noisy with you here."

Shinichi's eyebrow twitched. "Hey..."

Conan said nothing in return and just left the room, leaving his brother to sigh, passing his hand through his hair. _Really, what's wrong with that kid? _he wondered, still staring at the hallway, where Conan had just disappeared from. _He's such a brat sometimes... Most of the time, actually._

He began to walk towards his room to put his things away, until he tripped on something. Luckily, however, he was able to catch himself before landing face-first into the floor. _What did...? _upon noticing the little school bag on the floor, Shinichi couldn't help but shake his head. _Kids, _a fond sigh escaped him. _I wonder why they are all so messy..._

Glancing at the table, Shinichi realized his little brother had forgotten some of his stuff on top of the table, so he began to gather the books that have been scattered around when his eyes fell on the wristwatch lying on there.

Curiosity washing over him, he held it on his hand. _Huh, pretty neat, _he noted, examining it a little bit. _When I was his age I had, what, a bright blue one? It looked definitely more childish, that's for sure._

Upon further inspection, Shinichi noticed something peculiar about this watch. Four red triangles on the border and a cross in the middle. _Hey, hey, _the teen blinked. _Why does this look like a targeting screen?_

Absentmindedly his finger went to the tiny switch and pressed it. He was startled when the lid suddenly flipped open. _What the-?! _he screamed inside his mind, walking around the room while watching everything through the lid. _Wait a second, it actually is a targeting screen! _he realized, leaning slightly against the table, facing the doorway.

_Then, what does it shoot?_

So, he pushed the button again.

Just in time for Conan to appear through the door.

"Say, did you see my-?" panic crossed the child's face when he saw a needle shooting towards his way and immediately threw himself to the side.

The dart wheezed right past him, stabbing itself in the wall behind him, right where his head should have been.

An uncomfortable silence ensued.

Before, after a few seconds of processing what had just happened, Shinichi's eyes fell on his little brother.

Conan, in turn, grinned sheepishly.

It didn't have the result the child wanted, though.

"Conan!" the boy in question winced at that. "What is this?!"

"A wristwatch?" he offered, quickly making his way towards the table. He let out a frustrated sigh when his older brother stood right in front of him, blocking his way. "Come on, I don't have the time for this..."

The child tried to walk past him, only to get interrupted again, and groaned loudly with a frown.

Shinichi quirked an eyebrow at that. Conan actually looked pretty frustrated and irritated, as if he was actually in a hurry, which prompted his older brother to wonder why he would act like that. _He came back because he had forgotten something, and I have his watch on my hand, _then he realized. _His phone... Why would he be in such a hurry to retrieve it?_

So, without him realizing, Shinichi grabbed the phone on top of the table, hiding his actions from the younger boy with his own body.

"I'm waiting, Conan," Shinichi said to him, tapping his foot against the wooden floor.

Deciding he had no way out of this, the child sighed heavily. "It's a wristwatch alright... With an anesthetic dart inside," he confessed. "Professor Agasa made it for me."

"What for?" Shinichi frowned.

"You know, I..." he shrugged. "I attract trouble... and death quite a lot. So Professor Agasa thought it would be best if I had a way to protect myself."

"At this point I don't really know if you attract trouble or just ran towards it."

Conan scoffed. "What makes you think I-?"

"I heard a few interesting things at school this morning," the child was a bit confused at the change of topic, until his brother continued. "I was shocked to find of that Ran's father, who has been a lousy detective ever since I can remember, now is quite a famous, efficient and respected one. "

"Well, Occhan has certainly became brighter than before," the child moved away from his brother, and went to search for his lost item. "Maybe he experienced a sudden enlightenment, or something."

Shinichi's eyes narrowed. "And Sonoko, _Sonoko _for crying out loud_, _is now known as Deduction Queen Sonoko in our school," he stressed out. "Everybody in school teased me all day, telling me that she would one day surpass me, including Sonoko ─ especially her."

The little boy paused momentarily at that. "Really...?" that was all he could say, aware that it has been him secretly aiding her in a few more cases after that night at the villa.

"Ran told me you had been acting as Sonoko's little assistant."

At this point, Conan couldn't argue anymore. Not when Shinichi was giving him that knowing look he would give those he would interrogate after he had pushed them into a corner.

So he had no other option but to settle with an honest answer. "Can't really look the other way when Occhan pins every single murder as suicide," he shrugged. "Especially when the police seem to agree with him regardless the stupidity of his theory."

Shinichi's eyes opened. "So it really has been you guiding them!" he exclaimed, then smiling a little when Conan blushed a bit, clearly embarrassed. "It must have been hard, huh?"

Well, to be honest, he wasn't expecting _that _kind of reaction for his part. He expected him to be scolding him, but he seemed a bit... interested?

He guessed he should have expected it. His brother was weird.

"When a murder happens, at least Sonoko-neechan actually knows I'm helping her, even if she doesn't realize I'm the one practically solving the case," he rolled his eyes. "Occhan just thinks I'm pointing at random stuff and that, coincidentally, is relevant to the case. It makes things harder when he kicks me out the crime scene."

"To be fair, children shouldn't be hanging around dead bodies."

"Dad took you to lots of crime scenes when you were my age."

"Dad doesn't exactly fit in the definition of responsible parent."

"Point taken."

Shinichi watched Conan shrug, then continue looking for his missing item, before frowning a bit when he found it gone. Before he could say something, his older brother beat him to it.

"But wouldn't it be easier if you... I don't know, used this watch to knock them him out and then, with the voice-changer bowtie you used this morning, pretend you're them?"

The look the child gave him caused Shinichi to realize that clearly wasn't the saner idea that had ever escaped from his lips.

"People would definitely know if somebody is asleep in front of them. Not to say, it would be pretty weird if they saw somebody magically speaking without their mouth moving," Conan's eyebrow raised at that. "I don't think anyone would just believe that Occhan and Sonoko-neechan suddenly know ventriloquism."

"... Well... I think you have a point there," he laughed, awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"Besides, how would Occhan explain what happened at the case hearing when he hadn't actually done a thing?"

"Okay, okay, I got it. I wasn't really thinking..."

"Do you ever think when you're outside a case?"

"... Give me a break, you-"

"Anyway, have you seen my phone?" Conan ignored him. "I was pretty sure I left it here, but..."

Shinichi pretended to glance over the table, while keeping the object in question hidden behind his hand. "Ah," he suddenly said. "Now that I think about it, I might have heard something falling when I bumped into the table, after suddenly firing a dart out of nowhere."

"What? Oh, no, not again..." he whined, as he crouched under the table.

As soon as the little one's eyes were off him the older detective pulled the phone from behind his back and flipped it open. The screen had frozen in the last thing Conan had been doing before closing it, so he didn't need to know the password.

Shinichi's eyes widened. Conan had been reading an article about an accident that had happened more than a year ago.

"_... the only victim was head doctor, Watanabe Satoshi..."_

"... It's not here either..."

Shinichi flipped the phone close just in time to see his brother standing up. "Ah, found it," the older one said, handing him the device. "Sorry, I didn't see it behind your books."

With an annoyed grunt, Conan accepted the phone. He didn't notice the concerned look on Shinichi's eyes as he left, without any further word.

At least, until he stopped in the doorway. "Ah, Onii-chan?"

"Huh?"

"A few months after you left, Ran-neechan came here to clean the house," he told him. "And she said something weird..."

"Weird? How so?"

"She told me she had to throw the orchid in Dad's desk because it had withered away," he said, with a knowing look. "Wasn't it supposed to be a petunia?"

Conan didn't expect, however, the genuine shock that crossed Shinichi's face. The older boy didn't say anything and eventually the child left.

Not without glancing back at his brother one last time. He was stroking his chin, deep in thought.

* * *

"You want me to... what?"

"Please, could you _please _have dinner at Professor Agasa's tonight?" his brother pleaded, with a sheepish smile on his face. "This... This is pretty important."

"Oh? What is this?" a teasing smirk crossed Conan's face. "Did you finally ask Ran-neechan out?"

"... How did you know?"

"You're blushing like a fangirl who just saw his idol glancing at her."

Shinichi only blushed harder, looking away from his little brother's knowing eyes, eyebrows twitching in annoyment. Conan just laughed, loudly, at him, embarrassing Shinichi even further.

"So? Where are you taking her?"

"... Beika Center Building's observation restaurant."

Conan blinked a bit. "Wait a minute... Isn't the place where Mom and Dad...?"

"Yeah," he nodded, curtly, ignoring the shocked look on his brother's eyes. "Don't get the wrong idea, Conan. I just wanted to eat there."

"... Sure..."

"Why does it look like you don't believe me?"

"Because I don't," he stated, not even bothering to change his expression a little biy. "I'm calling Professor Agasa right now, though, don't worry."

"Gee, thanks."

Conan's hand went to the phone, but hesitated for some reason. At the sight of it, Shinichi's annoyed facade faltered, and was replaced by confusion. Before he could ask what was wrong, the young boy spoke. "Just make sure to return home safely this time around, alright?"

Shinichi smiled a little bit as well.

"Of course."

* * *

When he had called Professor Agasa, it had been Haibara the one to answer, claiming that the old professor had been showering at that very moment. So, the child had told her everything instead.

He hadn't expected her to pause for a moment, then tell him: "_Sorry, something came up and the Professor and I won't be home tonight."_

Conan hadn't thought much about it and told her he would just go to Kogoro's house and cook something there ─ the man would argue, but he firmly believed Ran would side up with him so no worries there.

When he had decided to tell his brother all that, however, he paused. He saw Shinichi, dressed in an elegant pale blue jacket and black shirt, putting on a fancy fedora hat. There was a serious look on his face, as he adjusted the latter in front of the mirror.

_He's so serious... Wait is he really...?_

So he didn't say anything about Agasa not being home. Just wished him good luck and watched him leave through the front door.

Before grabbing his skateboard and leaving as well.

Surely, Kogoro didn't expect to see the kid again, so soon, making his way inside his office as if he owned the place. But he was there, standing right in front of him, skateboard under his arm and a determined look on his face.

"I need you to drive me to Beika Center Building's observation restaurant."

"Huh? Why would I-?"

"Because that's where my brother took Ran-neechan for dinner... Also, where my father proposed to my mother."

He didn't need to be asked twice. Roughly ten minutes later, Kogoro was watching the kid stepping out his rental car inside the parking lot.

Conan wasn't sure what he was doing, even as he hesitantly stepped inside the restaurant. Looking around the place, Conan couldn't help but gape in amazement. _He definitely stole Dad's credit card, _he decided. _There's no way his allowance could afford... all this. _

_If he still has an allowance, that's it._

"Hello there," he flinched a tiny bit at the sound of a woman's voice. Turning around, he came face to face to a waitress, smiling at him in such a way people would do to an innocent, young child. "Are you looking for someone, little one?"

He cutely shook his head, a matching sweet smile crossing his face. "My parents are over there, don't worry," he pointed to a random direction before running away.

Soon, he managed to get away that woman's curious eyes by going around the corner and then hiding under a random table, close to a window. _If she sees me here without any adult around she might start to wonder, _he said to himself. _I just need to stay here until nobody..._

He winced, visibly, when a pair sat on the table he had been hiding under. _Just my luck._

"Are you sure it's okay? This place looks expensive."

Conan's eyes opened, widely. _That's Ran-neechan's voice. Don't tell me I actually managed to...?_

"Don't worry about it," it was his brother, he realized. "I brought my dad's credit card."

The child couldn't really tell if hiding under the same table their date was taking place was good or bad luck. _What are the chances, really?_

At least he was in a good position to overhear what they were saying. He had come here, after all, to figure out what his brother was thinking ─ because he definitely wasn't stalking them, or meddling with their love life either. He was simply curious, just that, because he was a detective.

"You careless brat."

"Silly. If anything, my parents were careless... leaving the country for fun and abandoning their sons at home."

"Like you're the one to talk," Ran accused him lightly. "Weren't you the one who left Conan-kun alone at home?"

The detective seemed to wince at those words, then pause for a moment. He recovered a few seconds later and let out a terribly fake, humorless chuckle.

"It's... It's not that I wanted to, you know."

Conan could basically hear the regret weighing down his voice and it made him frown slightly. He knew Shinichi had no other choice but to leave, yet that didn't mean he disliked the fact any less.

Yeah, because of the Black Organization...

Because Shinichi had been, most likely, involved with _them._

He stopped the thought there, because he didn't like were this was going.

"So," Ran spoke up, probably wanted to dissipate the tense atmosphere she had created without meaning to. "What did you want to tell me about?"

"A-Ah... What I want to say is..." Shinichi trailed off, hesitant.

"Well?" Ran pressed, smiling at him.

_Well? _Conan straightened himself, anxiety gnawing at him.

"What I want to tell you is..." Shinichi fidgeted nervously.

As he shifted, Conan felt his brother's leg accidentally bumping into his shoulder. Which, naturally, caused the child to freeze and close his eyes shut, hoping with all his might that he would notice...

But then Shinichi suddenly stopped talking and casually said:

"Ah, sorry."

_Please, don't ask why. _

"Sorry for what?"

_... Of course._

"Huh? I just kicked you..."

"Are you sure you didn't just kick the table?"

"No way, that's not possible," he commented.

And the child panicked a bit, because he _knew _his brother was right. The legs of this table were positioned on each edge of it, so there was absolutely no possibility of them being right in front of him.

Conan's head popped out from under the table and wildly looked around for a way to escape. He noticed a waitress passing by with a trolley and, without anybody noticing, slipped under the tablecloth.

Just in time for his brother to take a curious look at his feet and Ran to yell at him, angrily, calling him a pervert in a _very _loud voice. As the trolley carried him away, Conan chuckled, amused, when he heard Shinichi's lame attempts to explain himself.

Swiftly he jumped off the trolley as it passed by a darkened hallway and bolted before anyone could spot him. _I need to buy time until I figure what to do next, _he thought, calling the lift, clearing ignoring the fact that he could easily read the sign that said '_Use for Employees Only'._

He simply waited for the doors to close and leaned against the wall in the corner of the elevator closest to the entrance, sighing tiredly. _Now, what should I do? _he thought to himself. _There should be a way to leave this place without gathering more attention... _

_If I go down, people will notice I'm using this elevator, even if I'm not allowed to, and would be in big trouble. If I just leave through the front door, people will wonder why a little child is leaving without their parents so late into the night... Not to say that Ran-neechan could spot me. I definitely don't want to be in the receiving end of her karate..._

_And the way to the parking lot is in the other side, so calling Occhan is not an option. If I just call him, he would also cross paths with Ran-neechan and..._

Conan sighed again, clueless of what to do next.

Then, he heard steps heading closer.

"I'm not feeling well today," somebody said. His voice was getting closer. "Just tell everyone to continue supporting our company."

To his surprise, the door of the lift opened beside him and a man stepped inside. "Well," he said to whoever was on the other side ─ Conan couldn't see from his spot. "Say 'hi' to everyone for me."

And the doors closed once more.

Conan did not move, his mind running for an answer for the question that was probably going to be asked any second now...

"Ah, I didn't see you there, little boy. What are you doing here?"

"Shh!" Conan hushed, his index finger right in front of his lips. "I'm playing hide and seek with my friends."

"Oh, is that so?" the man smiled at him. "Maybe you should hide somewhere else. This is for employees use only."

"Aw, is that so?" the boy pouted childishly. "I really liked this place."

The man chuckled at him. "Maybe I can make an exception for you," he offered. "Just this time around."

"Really?" he did his best to play the role of an excited child. "Thank you!"

"Don't worry," he nodded. "I'm hiding as well, after all."

Conan blinked. "Eh? Aren't you too old to play hide and seek?" he asked, even if he was curiously looking at the way he was unbuttoning his shirt.

"I want to surprise a few friends," he explained. "That's why I'm hiding here until the time is right."

"Oh," he nodded, then gave him a bright smile with his eyes closed. "I see... That sounds fun!"

There was a loud sound, similar to that of crackers going off, and felt something splattering on his face, causing him to open his eyes, feeling confused. Then, they widened in horror when he saw the man from before, slumped against the wall.

With a hole on the middle of his forehead, blood everywhere, including his own face ─ if the red spots on his glasses were something to go by.

Dimly, he noticed that the door had opened, yet he just stood there, quietly. Luckily for him, there were no mirrors in the elevator, making the place where he currently was at a blind spot for whoever had shot that man.

He didn't move. Going for a peek was a dumb ─ practically suicidal ─ option.

So, he just waited for the doors to close again. Once they did, he inched closer to them.

"Hey," he could hear a woman talking. "The party just started."

"Right on time at 8:30 PM," there was a male voice. "But before the party, here's a present."

For a moment, Conan did not understand why they were acting so casually. He even glanced at the floor number and, indeed, they were still in the same floor.

_Probably the killer, whoever they are, is creating an alibi._

"Ah! What is it?"

"It's like the piercings you're wearing right now. A pink pearl necklace."

_Pink? _his eyes sharpened at that.

"Thank you!"

"This is nothing," then, his warm, tender voice shifted to a cold, murderous tone. Conan even had the chills when he heard. "Today I ensured that memorable day for you."

It was a wonder how that woman hadn't suspected anything at that point.

As things were now, however, Conan stayed there, alone with the dead body in such a small elevator, feeling the scent of blood beginning to impregnate the air and fill his nostrils, to the point of actually making him feel nauseated. Even so, he did not leave. He waited for a few minutes after he heard the footsteps heading away.

Only then, he called the police.

Upon leaving the elevator, he came face to face with two other ladies and a man, who gasped at the sight of the red liquid splattered on his face, then screamed loudly when they saw the corpse behind him.

_This will be hard to explain._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Yeah, it was Countdown to Heaven, right? I haven't seen it in a long while, so I seriously need to see it again soon. About Ran, I have something planned for her in the future, but it might take a while for it to happen.

Dy: Amuro will eventually appear in this story. I like him too much to just forget about him XD


	30. The One and Only Truth

**File Thirty: The One and Only Truth**

Inspector Megure arrived at the scene of the crime not long thereafter.

It wasn't long until the victim was identified as Tatsumi Taiji, president of a game company. Apparently, it was a child the one who had called, claiming that he had been with Tatsumi right until he was shot in the head, and avoided being seen by the killer just by chance.

"So, you're saying that there was a little boy with the body when you arrived," Megure questioned three employees of the company the victim was president of. They all nodded. "Where is he?"

"He was right here a moment ago..." the man said. "But disappeared as soon as we got our eyes off him."

"That poor little thing," one of the women commented to the other. "He must be pretty scared right now."

Takagi, however, just gave Megure an odd look. "Hey..." his lip twitched upwards. "... You don't think that poor little thing is _that _poor little thing, do you...?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually him," Megure sighed, tiredly. "I wonder if Mouri-kun is around as well."

He hoped not.

Tiredly shaking his head the inspector leaned closer to the body, in order to have a better look. "With such rumpled clothes," he observed. "It looks like the culprit's objective was money... Wait a second, wasn't there a similar case a long time ago?"

"Eh?" Takagi blinked, cluelessly.

"I was a new officer back then... A strange young man jumped in, and said..."

"Sorry, but I don't believe this was a crime for money."

"Right, right, right! Just like that... Huh?!"

Both men stared, stunned, at the young man that was crouching right in front of the body. "If the culprit wanted money and had a gun on him, he would move his target to an area without many people," he explained. "And even if he was seeking money, he wouldn't undo the button on his shirt. Don't you agree..." he then turned around, taking his hat off so they could see his face. "... Inspector Megure?"

"K-Kudo-kun?!"

He was instantly hushed by the teenager, pleading him not to use his name so loudly. While it confused him, the inspector could do nothing but to comply.

"But why are you here?" Takagi asked him, confusedly.

Shinichi opened his mouth to speak.

Yet somebody else beat him to.

"After years and years of a painfully obvious yet unresolved romantic tension, Shinichi-niichan has finally asked Ran-neechan out," they turned around at the young voice behind them. "But as his luck would have it, their date got ruined due to this bloody murder."

Standing right in front of their eyes was none other than Conan, with a plain ─ almost annoyed ─ expression on his face. Dried blood covered his face and dirtied his glasses, yet the boy seemed to be unbothered by it.

Takagi was surprised to actually seeing him there, causing him to blink a bit, while Megure remained unamused. _Your luck is rotten as well, Conan-kun, _he thought, sighing loudly.

Shinichi, on the other hand, stared for a couple of minutes. "Conan?!" then gasped, far too shocked to actually be embarrassed by what he had just said. The kid shrugged at his reaction, unaffected by it, causing Shinichi to rush to him and pick him up by his armpits. "Just a moment, Inspector Megure!"

With that, he went right around the corner before placing him on the floor.

"What are you doing here?"

"You mean what am I doing at your dating place or at the murder scene, in general?"

"Both!" then he saw the teasing smirk on Conan's face and realized he _really _didn't want to know. "... I mean, why are you in the murder scene?"

His smirk vanished and his expression was replaced by a blank one, as he raised an eyebrow. He pointed at his face. "Pretty self explanatory, isn't it?"

"Did the killer see you?" asked Shinichi, eyes narrowing a bit.

"I don't think so. I wouldn't be here if he did," the child shrugged. "I didn't want to risk being seen, so I didn't move. Which means I wasn't able to see him either."

Shinichi sighed in relief. "I'm glad you didn't," he confessed. He wouldn't put behind the little boy to risk his integrity so he could get any other clue, but it seemed that he still had some sense of self-preservation. "So, did you notice anything else?"

"Nothing, besides the fact that the hallway was completely dark by the time I entered," Conan shook his head. "But I heard a couple talking," he told him, frowning slightly. "He gave her a gift. 'A pink pearl necklace,' he said."

By the way Shinichi's eyes narrowed, slightly, the little boy could tell his brother had also understood what was wrong with that sentence.

Before they could exchange any other word, a woman came running. "Daddy! Daddy!" she screamed, before she was stopped by Megure and Takagi from messing with the crime scene. Then, she began to cry, hysterically.

"I guess we now know who 'Miss Pink Pearl' is," Conan said to his brother.

The teenager nodded, before heading back to the scene, the little child in tow. At this point, Inspector Megure was questioning the employees that had seen the man right before he entered to the elevator. It turned out that his daughter, Tatsumi Sakurako, had came and stayed behind with Ooba Satoru.

"We discussed some plans, then went back to the party deck," he said.

"Not quite," everyone looked at Conan, who just stared back at Ooba with an innocent look. "I heard you talking actually. It sounded like you were giving her a gift of some sort."

He then turned to the woman.

"It was around 8:30, right?" he asked.

"That's right," she nodded, teary eyed. "The crackers went off and the watch pointers indicated it! I'm not mistaken!"

Shinichi's eyes shifted away from the child to the woman, instantly, when she said that. Takagi even questioned how she knew that, even without a clock, and she said that she had seen Ooba's watch when he had touched her earpiece.

Apparently, the watch pointers glowed on the dark.

"But this is weird," Shinichi pointed out, reaching to touch her earings. "If you touch the pierce using the hand your watch is on, the pointers aren't visible."

"They are if you touch the other ear," Ooba said, moving Shinichi's left hand so he was touching her right ear.

"Oh," he nodded. It was evident he would be go for that ear, since the other one was hidden by her hair. "But what about your right hand? Wouldn't it be easier to use?" he then smirked. "Of course, if something was holding down your right hand, I can understand."

Terror crossed Ooba's face. "So what?!" he shouted once he had more or less recovered. "You're saying I held a gun in my right hand?!"

"Gun? I never said anything about a gun," Shinichi blinked, playing the role of a confused boy. "Were you holding one?"

"Inspector! Who is this guy?!"

"Oh, he is-" Megure stammered.

"Despite my dress, I'm a new recruit!" he turned to the inspector. "Right, Inspector?"

Megure let out a dry laugh in response.

"Say, wouldn't it weird if he didn't have one?" Conan pipped in, with an innocent tone on his voice, earning a few questioning looks.

Nobody but Shinichi noticed the way Conan's lips curved into a knowing smile, prompting the murderer to pale considerably.

"Because Tatsumi-san died at 8:30 PM," he stated. "I heard you saying that, Ooba-san. Right after the doors closed."

Shocked silence followed that statement.

"That's impossible!" Sakurako exclaimed, desperate. "I was with him the entire time!"

"You didn't stop off anywhere?" Shinichi questioned.

"I only went to the washroom to put on the necklace he gave me. I fixed my lipstick too, it took about two to three minutes. But he was against the wall the entire time. He was still there!"

As he listened to the woman's statements, Conan couldn't help but frown a bit. He had been right, this man right there had tried to use her as an alibi.

"Are you sure about that, Conan-kun?" he glanced at Takagi, who was kneeling down right next to him. "Maybe you remember something wrong..."

"I don't," he argued, with such a serious expression on his small face that the detective actually flinched back. "I'm absolutely sure of what I saw and heard!"

"But what you are saying is impossible," he tried to reason while smiling awkwardly at him. "Sakurako-san already said that she had been the entire time with him..."

"He still did it."

"Maybe you heard wrong and he was killed as the elevator was going down..."

Conan shook his head. "The elevator wasn't moving," he explained. "Tatsumi-san said he was hiding and that he wanted to surprise some people."

Ooba's chuckle fell on his ears, prompting him to turn around to face him. At the sight of the broad smug grin Conan had to repress the urge to wipe it off his face by kicking something right at his nose.

"Do you really think that brat's testimony is actually reliable?" as things were, however, the little boy settled with a killer glare. "I bet this kid is doing all of this just for attention."

The child growled softly, fists clenching a bit, taking a step forward. A hand on top of his had stopped him short. "Conan's testimony is more than reliable, believe me," his brother spoke up. "Besides, it's _our _job to decide which testimony is valid and which is not."

Rendered at a loss of words, Ooba simply gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the high school detective. The attention was soon drawn off him when a police officer came to tell them they had found a silenced handgun and a bullet shell at the garbage collection area.

Even so, Conan found himself staring up at Shinichi, whose hand hadn't yet left his hair. He thought he should feel glad that his older brother was there. That he believed in him, even when adults seemed to wave off his words just because he was a young. He should feel happy that somebody trusted him. _Then why...? _he frowned slightly.

_Why does it hurt so much?_

Eventually Shinichi noticed his younger brother's gaze and looked back at him, blinking confusedly for a few seconds, before giving him a grin.

Conan didn't find in himself the strength to return it.

His brother's smile faltered when he saw the youngest looking away. Hadn't he known any better, he would've said that Conan appeared to be... sad.

* * *

Shinichi had managed to get two facts out from Sakurako. For one, she had been kissing Ooba with her back towards the elevator. Also, she had bought the pierces she was wearing right before meeting her lover.

The three people that had found the body after Conan told him about the new mascot character that had been introduced at the party. Apparently, Ooba had been disguised as this mascot and was winking all the time.

That was why they currently stood there, in front of the suit the main murder suspect had wore a few hours ago.

"So, this is it," Megure commented.

"What an... original design," Takagi added.

"Isn't it cute?" the employee asked, a smile plastered on her face.

"It's ugly," everyone winced a bit at the honest answer that Conan gave, yet he didn't even bat an eye.

Instead, he stuck his hand inside the mouth. Both Megure and Takagi panicked for a bit, until they noticed it blinking. Just like it had done with Ooba before.

And Shinichi smirked. The puzzle had been put together inside his mind.

Yet the smile vanished when they were leaving the room.

It all started with a lot of sweating and some sort of dizziness, that caused him to stumble slightly to a side and to lean slightly against the wall. _No, not this again..._

As expected, he suddenly felt like something was squeezing his heart, so painfully that caused him to actually groan in discomfort. _Please, not here, _his breathing was becoming more ragged, even as he noticed Conan slowly turning around his way.

_At least, not in front of him._

"Hey, you alright?"

"Kudo-kun?"

He paid no attention at the concern both Takagi and Megure were showing towards him. The only thing he could focus at the moment was the gradually widening blue eyes staring up to him.

Then it came. The frown. The knowing look that concerned Shinichi the most.

So he did his best to compose himself, even if the burning sensation on his chest didn't disappear.

Through his suffering, Shinichi barely noticed another officer running up the inspector to inform him that there hadn't been a trace of gunpowder found on Ooba's clothes.

"Look for any suspicious characters that left this building during the party."

"... No, there's no need for that," the teen managed. "The culprit is already within our grasp. Now then, let's enter..." despite the pain, he let out a confident smirk. "The stage where the truth will be revealed."

It wasn't long until Ooba was brought back, loudly complaining as Takagi pushed him, kindly, towards the murder scene. Sakurako did the same, claiming that there was absolutely no way her lover was involved since she had been with him the entire time.

"So, what?!" Megure backed away, startled by her outburst. "You think I'm lying?!"

"No, we're not questioning you," Shinichi told her. "I believe you were with Ooba-san the entire time... Including when he committed the crime, right next to you."

Of course the woman didn't take it well, screaming at him for even thinking that he would team with somebody else to kill her own father, until the detective pointed out that wasn't the case, since she had been none the wiser about the crime being committed in the first place.

Since her eyes had been closed and she had been facing the elevator while kissing the criminal. Then, Ooba had opened the elevator door and shot her father.

"You say the most interesting things," even then, Ooba was still calm. "But there's one large hole in your theory. Why did our president, who wasn't feeling well, stay inside the elevator after it went down?"

"Weren't you listening when I was talking?" Conan commented, ignoring the way the criminal looked down at him with arrogance. "It just stayed there. Tatsumi-san said he wanted to surprise everyone."

"If it was a surprise, I had no way of possibly knowing that," he scoffed, shaking his head. "Better luck next time, kid."

"No, you definitely knew he was going to stay," Shinichi pointed out. "He was waiting for you to wear that suit," then he looked at the disguise from before, that the officers had brought to the scene. "You probably told your president '_Pretend you went home and we can secretly switch here. Everyone at the party will be surprised!'_"

He then proceeded to explain, as he put on his gloves, the reason he had been winking in the disguise and went to the suit and pulled out a bag from inside one of the eyes. There were four rubber bands and a glove, that he had used to easily retrieve the evidence.

The lights then dimmed, similarly as how the scene had been when Conan had first arrived. Nobody would see him with the gun that way.

"When Ooba-san blocked her ears and touched the earpiece, his left hand was likely uncovered," he concluded. "In other words, your fingerprints must be all over this plastic bag-"

His voice died down, abruptly, as he held a hand against his chest, causing Conan to whisper to him a worried "Are you okay?" Yet, he didn't get a reply besides his labored breathing.

Not realizing or caring about the condition of the detective, Ooba informed him that the fingerprints of many employees were there as well, since they had found the bag already and decided to leave it there, since they had believed the president had a reason behind it.

"Here's my deduction," Ooba smirked. "Someone with a grudge against me murdered our own president on the floor below, while she and I went to the washroom. They hid the bag in the suit to try and frame me," he gave Conan a brief glance, prompting the child to bristle with fury. "That little kid overheard our conversation, found the president's body when he tried to call the elevator then made up this entire story so he could play detective and avoid getting kicked out. It sure sounds better than your nonsense 'Murder during a kiss' theory.

Shinichi only breathed harder, as Ooba's smug grin widened.

"Now then, new recruit. What now? You don't seem energetic anymore. Run out of arguments? Doesn't matter. I have one hundred answers ready for all one hundred of your stupid questions!"

Gritting his teeth, the teenager struggled to speak. Before he said a word, however, a voice beside him beat him to it.

"Then, question number one hundred and one," Conan spoke up, a sweet smile on his face as he held his hands behind his back. "Sir, are you a magician?"

"... Eh?" he truly didn't expect that.

"That's because..." his smile turned into a smirk. "How did you know that her pearls were pink? You said that at the time, right?"

"Are you stupid?" he turned around to face the woman. "Something like that, you can see if you..."

When he saw her, Ooba understood where he had messed up. Even in darkness he could make out Sakurako's figure, staring at him with questioning eyes, wearing the pearl necklace he had given her a while ago, that matched with the piercings on her ears.

But they were nothing but a pair of blackened orbs. Colourless.

"That's right," Shinichi managed, standing right in front of the elevator door. "Until you kissed her..." he pushed the button behind him with one hand, while the other remained in place, clutching his chest. "... and opened the door of light!"

Light shone down on them as the door opened, letting everyone see Sakurako's beautiful pink pearls, along with her distressed face as she came to realize who she had been so passionately in love with.

Just as he confessed to the crime, the lights went back up.

Apparently, he had tried to take revenge because the president had tricked his father and forced him to commit suicide twenty years ago. As it turned out, his father had tried to make it look like the president had done it, but a young man had appeared and solved the case.

_Huh, so that must be the case that Dad solved before proposing to Mom, _Conan realized. _Then, twenty years later, Onii-chan defeats this man's son... I hope Ooba-san doesn't have a younger sibling or something..._

"But..." Sakurako whispered, still in shock. "It can't be..."

Conan's eyes fell on that woman. Her eyes were watering, yet didn't leave the man's form, even when she was slowly walking backwards. He could even see the betrayal she felt on her eyes, at the realization of that the man she loved, that she thought she knew like the palm of her hand, that she firmly believed in and trusted like none other, was a cold blooded murderer.

His tiny fists clenched, slightly. _Or maybe, I'm just projecting my own feelings._

Sighing loudly, the child glanced towards the spot where his brother was supposed to be, yet there was nobody in there. So, with a frown deeply carved on his young face, he quietly slipped away from the scene.

He found him right away, breathing heavily as he leaned against the sink of the restroom, but decided not to say anything. It wasn't until a few moments that his brother recovered a bit and looked up.

Conan's reflection stared back at Shinichi through the mirror. His gaze pierced through him, as if he could see every single, dark secret he was hiding inside his heart.

Shinichi decided he didn't like his brother's eyes. Those eyes, far too wise, far too knowing. As if he could see right through his elaborate, and not so elaborate, lies.

Then the child threw something at him, which the detective caught with ease. He looked at it and couldn't help but frown at the small vial filled with pills resting on the top of his hand.

"Conan," he managed, slowly sitting on the cold floor.

The little boy wanted to ask him if he was okay, yet he couldn't. Probably because he _knew _he wasn't okay at all. So, he just stood there, busy with his own thoughts, as his brother opened the vial and shadowed one of the pills.

"_Even if it is painful and incredibly sad, there is one and only truth," _the words that his brother would tell him time and time again when he was even younger rang on his ears. "_And it must always shine through."_

Shinichi began to feel better right away yet it didn't bring him any real relief, just a general feeling of dread at the realization of what it implied. That Conan had seen him like _that _and _knew _these pills were just what he had needed.

So he stared at the vial on his hand for the longest time, before facing his younger brother again.

He really didn't like the sad glint on those eyes that simply _knew _too much for his comfort.

"Just tell me, Conan," Shinichi sighed, tiredly. "Just... What do you know?"

Those flowers that Haibara had brought him all those days ago suddenly popped into the child's mind.

"Everything," was all he said.

Shinichi just gazed at him, his serious expression unwavering as ever. It was like he had known that Conan was aware of everything, or at least it didn't surprise him.

"Apotoxin-4869," Conan's voice filled the silence that had settled between the two brothers. "The Black Organization wanted you dead, so they forced you to take it. You survived, but it's only a matter of time until you..."

The child trailed off before finishing his sentence, staring at the floor as if the tiles had suddenly become more interesting than his brother's face.

"Did Sherry tell you that?"

"Haibara Ai-san," Conan corrected, his frown deepening as he spoke. "She only told me about the drug. I've known a bit of the Organization for a while now."

"Akemi-san, then, huh?"

Conan shook his head, not telling his brother how uncomfortable he felt at the thought that somehow Shinichi knew about Hirota Masami's true identity. "I already knew a bit of it before that.."

"I see..."

They fell into another uncomfortable silence right after that, which Shinichi didn't dare to break, more occupied with trying to read what was currently going through his younger brother's mind who, in turn, just kept his eyes trained in the ground. He seemed to be conflicted about something.

The bouquet of white flowers appeared in the youngest Kudo's mind again.

Conan took a deep breath.

_Edelweiss._

Then gazed into his brother's blue orbs.

_They mean courage._

He opened his mouth.

_... The courage needed to do what's right._

"You're Singani, aren't you?"

Deep inside, Conan hoped that his brother would just laugh at him. To tell him that that was an incredibly crazy and equally wrong theory. To laugh at him for being so silly to actually believe that he would be involved with such a dangerous criminal syndicate. To remind him that he was still his loving brother. His one and only Onii-chan.

Yet, Shinichi never denied his claim.

He just stared at him, shocked for a moment, until those words dawned on him. The high school detective didn't even try to say anything, just closed his eyes and faintly sighed.

Resigned.

Conan waited and waited for him to say something, _anything, _but it didn't happen. So his eyes opened widely, body shaking because of the realization of what his silence meant.

"T-Then, did you...?"

Shinichi's eyes narrowed slightly upon the memory of the article he had read on Conan's phone earlier that day. If he had somehow suspected that case was something fishy, it made sense to see him _that _distressed.

So, he let out an humorless laugh.

"My job in the Organization was to cover up for those that had messed up," he spoke, calmly. "I would go to those crime scenes the Organization was linked to and, while pretending to solve the case, I would identify those witnesses that were a potential threat to us..." he icy cold eyes met with terrified ones. "... and I would make them disappear."

The little boy's breath froze on his lungs, not letting his gaze break away from his older brother. _No, this can't be true, _he took a step back. _Why...?_

Suddenly, he couldn't see his beloved sibling, Shinichi, who he knew and cherished with all his heart... but a stranger. That thought, above else, hurt. It hurt more than any amount bullets on the stomach would.

Conan shifted a bit, causing his eyes to be hidden by the light reflecting on his thick glasses.

Shinichi didn't say anything. Patiently, he waited for the child to say something.

"... Leave," his voice was soft, so soft that Shinichi wouldn't have heard if the room hadn't been as quiet as it had. "... Please, just leave..." he broke right in the middle.

Wordlessly, Shinichi stood up. From that angle, he now could see Conan's eyes staring blankly at the spot in front of him, before shifting to him. His dulled, empty blue gaze met his, and for a moment Shinichi didn't think he could handle it.

But he had to.

"Just leave!" finally, some expression took hold of younger brother's gaze. Anger glimmered through the tears that were slowly collecting on the little boy's eyes. "Isn't... Isn't that what you are best at?"

Solemnly nodding at him, his brother walked right past him and towards the door, while Conan just stood there, unsure of what to do, or what to feel.

A part of him wanted his brother to disappear from his sight as soon as possible.

Another, however, wanted him to stay. Screamed at Conan to stop this madness, to ask him to stay. To forgive him, even if his actions were far from forgivable.

Shinichi stopped at the doorway.

And the kid just stood there, feeling confused and incredibly sad at the same moment.

"Well then," Conan took a hesitant step ahead at the sight of Shinichi's bittersweet smile. "... Goodbye, Conan."

And the door closed behind the detective.

An indeterminate amount of time passed ─ seconds, minutes, hours, Conan couldn't tell anymore ─ yet the small detective did not react. Just stared at the closed door, feeling as his heart ached and screamed at him for acting that immaturely. He had just hurt Shinichi.

But, to be fair, Shinichi had hurt him as well.

Or, maybe, Conan had just hurt himself, in a way.

He didn't even know anymore.

The only thing he could do at the moment was to, ever so slowly, start to walk towards the place his brother had just stood at, then sit with his back resting against the wooden door.

Burying his face on his arms, he began to cry.

Little did he know, however, that on the other side, Shinichi leaned against the door, sliding until he all but collapsed on the floor.

And for hours to an end, he didn't do anything. Just listened to the quiet, heart wrenching sobs filling the silence.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: For your first question, I wouldn't say years, but it could certainly help Shinichi last a few months, at least. It's still a prototype, though, so the effects aren't that clear so far. For your second one, as much as I think it that's the way it should go with Conan enjoying to embarass his brother and everything, at the moment he will be in a tense relationship with his brother to joke around. He might do it when things have settled down, however, I don't know. Lastly, I haven't been up to date with the manga lately so I don't know about that, but it's still too early to accurately tell you how the final antidote is going to be made.


	31. The Seventh Detective

**File Thirty-One: The Seventh Detective**

When Conan finally left the restroom, after splashing some water into his face to wash both the dried blood and tears, he found somebody standing right next to the door. One look at the strawberry blonde girl he definitely hadn't expected to see there and Conan sighed, loudly.

He silently waited for her to tease him for the sorry state he currently was in. But she didn't.

Instead, she simply passed him something. Conan stared at the golden credit card on his hands for a moment, before frowning a bit.

"Shinichi-san asked me to give this to you," she explained at him.

"Yeah, thanks," his reply was weak, since he feeling drained after everything that had happened. _That coward..._

Haibara just nodded at him, barely glancing at him as he walked right past her before pressing his lips a bit. She turned around and watched him go around the corner.

So she hurried to go follow him.

"Edogawa-kun," she called, making sure of using that name in case there were people around.

Conan just glanced at her, letting her know that she had his attention.

"Pass by the Professor's tomorrow," Haibara said to him. "Yoshida-san and the others wanted to prepare you a surprise party. We could really use your help with it."

"... Aren't surprise parties supposed to be, you know, a surprise?"

"I decided against the surprise factor. Knowing you, you would just figure it out in record time and spoil everything," she clarified, with a shake of her head. "So, will you be there?"

A faint, timid smile drew itself in his features. Almost untraceable and non-existent, but it was there. Then, the boy nodded, before continuing his way.

Ai let out a relieved sigh. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

* * *

Ran truly didn't know what to do. Maybe she should leave?

The waitress had told her about something that had happened twenty years ago in this restaurant. A young man had taken a girl to have dinner when a murder, just like this time, had been committed. He had easily solved it and then loudly proposed with the young woman he had come with.

She thought back at Shinichi's embarrassed and equally serious face... It couldn't be, could it?

Yet, on the other hand, she had heard that the murder had already been solved and the culprit had been taken away. Even so, Shinichi had yet to return.

She wondered what was taking him that long.

At the sound of footsteps coming her way, she glanced away from the window, only to meet with Conan's conflicted eyes. At the sight of the little boy that should definitely _not _be there, the girl blinked, feeling completely lost.

He forced a sweet smile, and only then Ran noticed his eyes looked red and puffy, as if he had been crying. Naturally, she worried. What could have possibly happened to cause _this _little boy to actually shed some tears?

But when he took out a credit card and placed it on top of the table, she finally realized what was happening.

"Where is Shinichi?" she asked him.

"Uh..." the child seemed to hesitate. "Shinichi-niichan got a call on his phone. He had a lot of trouble with the case he was on, and left in a hurry."

Ran's smile gradually dropped. "I see," she whispered, her eyes focusing on her hands, that rested on top of the table. "He..." her hands curled into fists. "He left me again."

Conan could only stare at the older girl as her tears gathered in her eyes. And it hurt him, a lot. It hurt the little boy's already aching heart to see her suffer like this.

She had waited for him. All this time. Then, when she had thought that he had finally gotten back to stay, as it always had been, he had suddenly vanished without saying goodbye.

... But it was Conan's fault, right?

Some part of his mind wouldn't stop bugging him about it. That he had ruined their date by telling him to leave. That he should have stopped his brother before he disappeared behind the door.

_But he lied to me, to us, to everyone... He was doing all that stuff behind our back._

_He is... He is..._

Conan frowned.

_Onii-chan is a murderer._

And it really hurt to think about it.

A little voice on the back of his head still screamed at him. That he was wrong, that there was no way his brother could do such a thing. But he willed it to shut up. Experience had taught him that denial wouldn't get him anywhere.

Like so, he focused on the girl sobbing in front of him.

"H-Hey," he began. "Shinichi-niichan said-"

"No, stop it!" she furiously shook her head, firmly pressing her hands against her ears. "I don't want to hear it!"

The little boy just contemplated the girl, silently.

"... I don't want to hear any more excuses."

Conan didn't move, just gazed at her while his mouth pressed into a thin line, before a frown appeared on his face. Slowly, his eyes closed and his head lowered, gravely.

"Shinichi-niichan said..." he spoke, softly. "... 'Someday. Someday, I'll definitely return," slowly, the girl turned to face him. "... even if I die. That's why..." her hands dropped as her eyes widened. "... That's why..." his gaze lifted as he stared into her eyes. "... I want you to wait for me, Ran'..."

He trailed off when Ran suddenly laughed. "Dummy, you don't have to act like that, Conan-kun," she said, as she wiped the tears that had escaped from her eyes. "This is that deduction maniac's fault. He'd go to the ends of earth for a case!" Ran huffed, rather annoyed.

For a moment, the child wondered if he had done the right thing. Was it actually right to tell her to keep waiting for his brother, considering what he had done and what he was?

She then broke into a bright grin, and suddenly all of Conan's doubts washed away with a relieved sigh.

"Oh, yeah! Want some dessert, Conan-kun?"

Without hesitation, the young boy nodded.

"Only if there's cheesecake, though."

* * *

Three days had passed ever since and was Friday already.

After the terribly stressful week the Mouri family plus Conan had had, a logical course of action would be to just rest for the weekend.

Yet it seemed like someone out there had other ideas, because that day Ran had picked out a weird, black letter from the mailbox that was '_only for the eyes of the detective Mouri Kogoro-san', _as the sender had put it.

Upon opening it, Kogoro had read it outloud:

"_Due to your skills, you have been selected to join us at this meal._

_We invite you to a party for all great detectives._

─ _The shadow child that God abandoned."_

Then marveled at the sight of a two billion yen check that Conan had found inside.

As a result, Conan was sitting at the backseat as Kogoro was making paying for the rental car Ran and him were in. He watched him from the window for a moment, before glancing at the letter Kogoro had carelessly left at his side.

_The shadow child that God abandoned, huh? _he took it between his hands and turning it over, a curious look on his eyes. _There's no doubt that it means that person, but... This is so unlike him._

Not only the colour and style were wrong, but there was something missing else. _He wouldn't just send it over without drawing that annoying little thing, right?_

Sighing tiredly, Conan leaned back. _This isn't making any sense, _he groaned, when something else caught his eye. Kogoro appeared behind an opening door, the shop clerk following close, pointing some little things to the man about the car.

Kogoro turned around as soon as he was finished, and the clerk watched him go for a moment until he felt someone staring at him.

Looking back at the car, he spotted a pair of blue eyes studying him, curiously. So, with a friendly smile, he waved at to the little boy.

Who didn't even blink, just ducked out of sight. The clerk just sighed once he couldn't see him anymore and continued his way.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, with Kogoro driving and the other two talking with each other. At least, until a few hours had passed since nightfall.

Conan was woken up suddenly by a loud sound and the violent shaking of the car. Peeking his head out the window and looking down, it didn't take the little boy long to find the cause of it ─ a flat tire. If things couldn't get any worse, Kogoro soon found out they didn't have a spare.

Luckily, however, Conan spotted a gasoline nearby. So, the man went there.

When he returned, the trio resumed their journey. They went through a shortcut the clerk had told him about, through the forest, which quite honestly made the child worry that they wouldn't get anywhere, and finally they were back on route. Then, Ran sighed.

"Geez, that was something," Kogoro commented.

"But he was right about it being a shortcut," Conan pointed out. "Because it's just over there, right?"

True to his words, there it was. Standing on a clif in the distance was a large castle, surrounded by a forest. It was kind of creepy looking and, being honest, it reminded Conan of those he would see in cheap scary movies.

"It's more like Dracula's Manor than Sunset Mansion," the child could only agree with Kogoro's comment.

"Hey Dad, are we really going there?" predictably so, Ran was frightened at the prospect. "It's scary..."

"Fool we can't refuse this offer even though it's strange. Whoever it was sent us two million yen."

"Besides, what are you so afraid of, Ran-neechan?" Conan pipped in. "Dracula doesn't even exist. He's just a character somebody came up with one day."

Ran just gave him a look and laughed, nervously. "Not everyone can just rationalize their fears like you do, Conan-kun."

Conan shrugged, and said nothing about it. Mostly because he had noticed that, for less than a second, there was an amused expression on Kogoro's face. Which didn't quite fit. In these situations, the man would probably be annoyed, irritated or something along these lines.

"Seriously, kid," he shook his head. "Can't you even be afraid of ghosts, or something, like a normal child?"

"Why? They are not real," he blinked, innocently. "For example, it's not like a lady with a scary face is about to suddenly appear in the middle of this road and-"

"Dad, watch out!"

Suddenly the car skidded to a stop, causing Conan to grab into his seat so he wouldn't fall forward. Once recovered, the child looked up to see a scary looking, old woman standing in the middle of the rain, holding an umbrella.

_Oh, the irony._

"You shouldn't be driving so fast when it's raining," the woman said, her expression not changing a bit.

"And you shouldn't be standing on the middle of the road, in the dark," Conan deadpanned, while taking his head out the window.

"Conan-kun!" instantly, Ran scolded him lightly, before turning to the old lady with a polite smile. "I'm sorry for that, Madam. Is something wrong?"

"As you can see," she motioned with her head to a car, parked in the side of the road. "My cute little car's engine has failed. I've been waiting for someone to come by."

"... In the middle of the road?"

"Conan-kun!"

The old woman just smiled at him, simply amused, before walking towards Kogoro's window to ask him if they would give her a ride to the castle, where she was going as well. The man let her in, and she sat right beside Conan on the backseat.

An uncomfortable, long silence ensued.

At least, until Ran asked her father if they could hurry up because she had to use the toilet. Only then, the woman raised her eyes from the book she had been reading and said to Ran:

"Young lady, it isn't my place but at my elementary school, we used to say: 'Those who do well respect their chances. Those who pass on chances may never be presented with that chance again'," she smiled. "Why didn't you go back at the gasoline stand?"

Everyone blinked. "Obaa-san," Conan called, simply confused. "How did you know that we stopped at a gasoline stand?"

"It's very simple, my child," she said, kindly, at the kid. "See that ashtray over there? It's empty, and there's a spent cigarette below it. If he smoked so many that you dropped one, you must be a heavy smoker. But since the ashtray is empty, you must have stopped at a gasoline stand about 10 kilometers back."

The little boy couldn't help but awe at her deduction. Then, she introduced herself as Senma Furuyo and everything made more sense. Conan had heard about her after all, she was quite a famous detective.

Understandable, considering she was going to attend a meal for detectives.

She then took the ashtray away from Kogoro, claiming that she hated cigarette smoke. Kogoro sighed, annoyed, and focused back into the road.

In no time they arrived at the place. As they were welcomed inside the mansion by the maid, together with another detective they had met at the entrance, Detective Mogi Harufumi, Conan couldn't help but look around, amazed.

People used to said that his house was big, but now he saw how wrong they had been. _This _was big, he realized while the maid asked them to place their umbrellas on the stand. Then, he watched her rush towards somebody he recognized as the Cooking Detective, Ogami Shukuzen, who had just called her a few moments ago. He began to yell at her after being told that the chef had just called in sick, and decided to cook for everyone instead.

The maid apologized to the rest after he was gone.

"What do you plan to do here by inviting four detectives to the mountains?" asked Senma.

"Ah, no, actually, six detectives have been invited to meet here," the main replied, a bit unsure. "There's also a woman and a boy."

"A boy?" Ran's head perked at that. "Could it be Shinichi?"

She couldn't help but notice the way Conan shifted, uncomfortably, at the prospect. It left as soon as it came, probably after realizing his disconformity was showing. "It can't be," he pointed out, a fake smile on his face. "It must be Hattori-san."

"No, we wished to have those two here but were unable to get them."

The maid continued talking about something, but Ran didn't really pay attention. Instead, she noticed the little boy's smile drop, briefly, lips pressing together into a thin line. A sigh escaped him, barely audible, while his head dropped slightly, letting the light refract on his eyes, hiding his feelings from the entire world.

And it truly confused the girl. Shinichi had suddenly left not that long ago, without notice, so it should be obvious that the little boy would be worried about him. But to see him this upset after hearing his name?

If she didn't know any better, she would've said the child was _relieved _his brother was not here.

He suddenly looked up to the maid when he heard that the she had absolutely no idea of who her employer was. She had just arrived to a room with a computer in there, before the words '_we will use you' _suddenly showed up on the screen. All instructions had been sent by mail after that.

"My, this is interesting," Senma smiled. "I'm getting excited now."

"I've been excited since I noticed the pattern on the door," Mogi nodded.

"Eh?" Ran blinked.

"Over there, Ran-neechan," Conan pointed at the door. "There's someone else's dried blood."

"... Blood...?"

The bad feeling came back in full force, looking at the gates to realize that, yes, there were some dark spots on the door. "D-Don't say stuff like that, Conan-kun," her lips twitched upward. "It could just be some mud or..."

"That little boy is right," a female voice suddenly said. Looking up the staircase, a woman was spraying something on the rails. "It's not just the door, there's blood on the walls and handrails. I guess someone tried to wipe the blood away. There's still blood all over this mansion, however."

Conan frowned slightly at her words, as he watched the woman he recognized as Detective Soda Ikumi, before noticing somebody looking at them from the second floor.

"That's impressive," he spoke up, causing everyone else to notice his presence. "Luminol."

As this detective explained this to them, the child analyzed this weird guy. While he was older than him ─ obviously ─ Conan could tell he quite young. Probably was as old as Ran. _Another high school detective, huh?_

_He seems familiar... Where have I seen this guy?_

"My name is Hakuba Saguru," even if slight and almost non-existent, Conan noticed an accent. _British? _he wondered. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hakuba?" Kogoro gasped. "As in Police Chief Hakuba?"

"Yes, my father is the Police Chief Hakuba you're thinking of, Mouri-san."

Then he whistled. Everyone was surprised to see a hawk come from the window to land into his hand. _This guy... has a hawk? _Conan laughed, dryly. _Now, that's being a show off._

And it turned out his name was Watson. _At least he's naming a bird, not a human baby, _he realized, lightly scolding himself from projecting so much, before following everyone to the living room.

* * *

When they finally were called to the dinner room, the group was met with a cloaked figure on the edge of a big table. The host was wearing a phantom-like purple hood with two eye slits, that, alone, gave him quite a bad feeling.

There was also a wall clock behind the man, but the hands were not moving. For a moment, the child wondered if it had run off batteries or something.

Despite all that, they all proceeded to take a seat.

"So, the reason I have called you six here is a simple one," the host spoke. "I want you all to find the treasure hidden in this place... by risking your lives."

Before anybody could ask what he meant with that, a loud sound boomed through the room. It turned out this host didn't have the intention of letting them leave, even if that meant setting bombs in every single car. He also informed them he had cut the bridge, and that their phones wouldn't have any reception in a place like this.

So they were trapped.

Mogi got so mad he tried to unmask him, but he only found a speaker beneath the hood.

"Then, who is behind all this?" Kogoro asked, stunned.

"My, I'm surprised you don't know, Mouri-san," Ikumi commented. "It was on the invitation."

Looking around, the man soon noticed that every single detective in the room was smirking, probably knowing well enough what that strange signature at the end meant.

"_Kid, the Phantom Thief,"_ Saguru said, in perfect English, eyes narrowing. "Out of all my cases... It was he who engineered one that I wasn't able to solve... Kaito KID!"

At that moment Conan realized where he had seen Hakuba. Back when he had been researching about Kaito KID before the Black Star Heist he had seen this detective's face on several articles. From what he could tell, this guy was obsessed with catching the thief.

Why he was that obsessed, the child didn't have a clue. _Maybe is a matter of pride, _he guessed.

Their final meals, as the host called them, arrived right after that. Yet, Conan's thoughtful expression did not change, even after the plate was set in front of him. _Even so, there's something that doesn't add up, _he glanced around. _I only met him once, but even I know this is definitely not his style._

He frowned. _But that doesn't mean he isn't around us._

Just to be in the safe side, all the guests decided to play rock-paper-scissors to determine their seats and wiped their plates, cups and forks, in case the host had the brilliant idea of poisoning them. And like so, they began to eat.

Once finished, the man in the speaker began to talk. He told them to take a look at their utensils. So, everyone did as they were told.

Conan turned his spoon over, taking in all the details and not failing to notice the figure engraved on it, and in everything else in the place. There was a sinister looking bird resting in a twig. _A crow, _he noted, with a shudder. _Why is this... this bad feeling every single time I look at this?_

He couldn't tell why, but a chill ran down his back as his stared at this bird's cold eyes. _I'm just being silly, _he sighed. _It's just an ordinary crow, like any other._

"So, now you get it? This mystery is much deeper than it seems," he announced. "It's the seal of Karasuma Renya!"

_... Karasuma Renya?_

The man behind the speaker then told them about a tragedy that happened in that very same place, Karasuma's Villa, forty years ago. After the owner's death, an auction had been held to sell of his many properties. Everything had been going alright, until two travelers came, asking for shelter since it was raining, heavily. The man behind the auction had refused, at least until he had been offered some kind of leaves he smoked just like tobacco. His attitude had changed right after that.

_Marijuana, _Conan guessed.

Long story short, everyone had also taken the same drug and chaos took hold. They all had attacked each other, in a crazy haze, and that auction ended up becoming a complete massacre.

And now, this man wanted those detectives to re-enact what had happened that night.

"On the night that the two men glanced to the night sky," the man decided to give them a hint. "The King leapt for his treasures and ran about the palace. The Queen cried away all of her tears into a goblet. And the Knight expelled his own blood."

_The King, the Queen and the Knight... Cards? _Conan thought, before his eyes fell on the clock from before. A slight smirk appeared on his face. _I see, so that's it..._

Then, they were told that the one that found the treasure would have to go to the fourth floor and enter the passcode. He promised them that that person would receive half of the treasure and a way out of that scary place.

He glanced back at the rest, who were all intently listening to this mysterious man. _It's too early to do anything, _he turned to the speaker and frowned. _At least, not until I figure out who this person is._

* * *

Detective Ogami had been poisoned. He had collapsed right after the host had stopped talking, and death had been instant.

And as it turned out, Senma had also been killed. Mouri, Mogi and the old woman had gone in the maid's car to check out the surroundings, when it suddenly exploded when the two men were outside. It had gone down the cliff, in flames, leaving no doubt about the lady's survival.

By the smug grin Mogi had when he told them about what had happened and the way Ikumi and Hakuba's eyes sharpened, Conan could tell they also knew. They had most likely also seen the woman reach for the dime back when they were deciding who was going to go.

Yeah, just like the one she had used to check for poison in Ogami's tea before.

"What should we do?" Ran wondered.

"Say, why don't we do as that person told us to?" Conan chirped, with an innocent glint on his eyes, before everyone turned to him, confusion written all over their faces. "You know," his smile, for a second, shifted into a confident grin. "Re-enacting what happened forty years ago."

Kogoro scoffed. "Are you crazy, brat?" he raised an eyebrow. "If we were to kill each other here, you wouldn't make it out of here alive."

"That's true... Can't we just _pretend_ we are, though?" the other detectives were startled by this boy's oprds. "Come on, we should hurry and plan it out! Before that person returns!"

"... Returns?" the man blinked.

At those words, Mogi laughed, loudly. "You're sharper than you look, kid," he exclaimed, reaching to mess with the child's hair. He didn't appreciate it, though.

"What do you mean?" Ran asked, genuinely confused.

"He means that the host is hiding in the forest, waiting for us to scramble away so she can go in without us noticing," Ikumi smirked. "Because the host is none other than Senma-san herself."

And the three, Kogoro, Ran and the maid, gasped.

"Before that," Hakuba added, sliding his hands inside his pockets. "Why don't we all go wash our hands?"

True to the little boy's words, an hour or so later Detective Senma sat on her chair behind a screen, tiredly rubbing her face with her hands after seeing Mogi dropping into the floor, poisoned after putting a cigarette on his mouth. Everyone, every single detective was dead.

Yet, nobody had found anything.

Suddenly, the camera feed was gone. Turning around, in shock, she noticed something on the computer. Letters were slowly being typed.

_The passcode?! Who's doing it?_

The six detectives were dead, after all.

Her eyes then went wide once the message was finished:

"_I've found the treasure._

_I know the secret._

_Meet me at the entrance._

─ _The Seventh Detective."_

The old lady quickly stood up, shocked about those words. Just... That couldn't be it. There wasn't a seventh detective. She had only invited six of them. Six.

Upon arriving at the destination, she was stunned to find the little figure leaning against the wall. "The one who set the bomb in the car wouldn't get in unless they were committing suicide. That is unless, it was to camouflage the case by faking your explosive death," smirk on place, the young boy raised up his sharp gaze to meet with the woman's stunned one. "Isn't that right, Detective Senma?"

She didn't say anything, just listened in quiet shock at the child told her what he had correctly deducted. Senma had escaped from the explosion, hid on the forest then made her way back to the mansion. Then, she had begun watching everyone's move from the cameras.

Also, she had killed Ogami. They had been in this together, but she had betrayed him and killed him instead. She knew, after all, that the detective had an habit to chew on his fingernails. Which was also the reason the maid had been picked. They had thought she would be an easy kill.

"At the end of the bloody writing on the piano, there's a name," he continued, clearly referencing that clue he had found with Kogoro and Mogi. "Senma Kyosuke. That is..."

"My father's name," the old woman finally confessed.

As it turned out, Senma Kyosuke had been an archeologist summoned to the Sunset Mansion for a job forty years ago, who really wanted to find that treasure. He would send letters and money, but before long, they stopped coming. It wasn't until much later that she had discovered a secret message on it. It was about the code and the murders in that mansion.

She had told Ogami and he had tried to find the treasure. But couldn't, so he had decided to use KID's name to attract the detectives. He had been the one who thought about killing the maid, yet little had he known that he would die instead.

"You know," Conan commented, entering the dinner room. "It seems like your father solved the code."

"Eh?"

He didn't answer right away, just climbed up the fireplace to reach the wall clock. "This is why," the boy said, and started turning the hands. "Left thirteen, left twelve, and... Finally right eleven."

To the child's surprise the clock fell. Some of the paint had been chipped off, letting them know that it was pure gold. At that, Senma sighed, lamenting the fact that her father had died for something like that.

"Like you said, Senma-san," the kid turned to her, a serious expression on his little face. "Where is the way out?"

"There is no way out," she confessed. "I planned to just die here."

"It's just as I thought!"

The old detective flinched at the unknown voice, then snapped her head around to see all six detectives standing on the doorway, very much alive. Then, she glanced back at the child, who grinned sheepishly, and she couldn't help but glare at him.

"Now," Mogi said. "The last thing is getting out of here."

Just as he said that, a weird sound started sounding on their ears. Before they could ask anything, Hakuba casually spoke.

"Oh, that's probably the police helicopter," everyone just looked at him. "I tied a message to Watson's ankle and told him to take it to my grandmother that had parked just over the cliff. Thank goodness I marked the roof of the car for him!"

At those words, Conan couldn't help but raise his eyebrow. "He could've said that earlier..." he said, softly, under his breath.

Unknown to the other kid, somebody else wholeheartedly agreed to that statement.

_That bastard Hakuba..._

* * *

"So you're eighteen, huh?"

Kogoro paused and turned around. Everyone else was focused on the helicopter that was about to land and save them from this cursed mansion, except for this kid. He had just said that, low enough for him to hear, with an annoyingly smug grin on his face.

"What do you mean with that, brat?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow.

"You took us here by car, which means you know how to drive. For that, you need to be at least eighteen," he pointed out. "When I first saw you the other time I thought you were around sixteen or seventeen, so you being nineteen or older is kind of pushing it a bit... Which means you're eighteen."

"What are you even-?"

"Even if you're pretending to be Occhan, you're not that dumb," Conan scoffed. "You definitely know what I'm talking about, KID-san."

The man just blinked a bit at him, twice, before he recovered, lips curving into a wide shark grin that definitely did not match with Kogoro's face. The child would even say it was a bit creepy to see it there.

"Impressive as always," a younger voice came out from Kogoro's mouth. "Tantei-kun."

"Are you making it an habit to call me that?" asked Conan, groaning a little.

"Probably," KID shrugged. "So, how did you know it was me?"

"I kept my eye on you, and it was clear after I realized Occhan didn't even touch one cigarette for an entire day. Even after Senma-san's fake death," the child commented before continuing walking. "Besides, I knew you would be around from the moment I saw the letter. Black is not your style, you didn't draw that stupid doodle at the end of it," Conan gave him a smirk. "And Kaito KID wouldn't just hide his involvement under a secret alias. He would let _every single soul_ know about his involvement."

"Oh~?" it was KID's turn to smirk. "I didn't know you were a fan."

"Idiot. I did some research, like any self-respecting detective would."

KID held his hands up, not even attempting to discuss this with that boy ─ there weren't soccer balls, or any kind of ball, around, but he wouldn't be surprised if the child suddenly found something similar to break his nose. He still had nightmares about the way he had shattered a phone with a regular soccer ball at that time so he _definitely _didn't want to test his limits.

"So, what are you going to do now?" KID questioned. "Are you going to catch me?"

Conan crossed his arms behind his head. "You didn't steal anything, so what's the point?" he sighed. "You're free to go, for now."

"Ah, that's very kind from your part."

"You should think of something quickly, though," he added, with a innocent grin. "You will be in deep trouble, otherwise. "

Then the kid left the thief, catching up with the group right away and climbing up into the helicopter. Kaito stared at his back, curiously, before he met with a pair of chocolate eyes, piercing through his head.

_Poker face, _he reminded himself, as he went into the helicopter as well, doing his best to ignore Hakuba's piercing gaze. ... _Poker face..._

Luckily for the moonlight thief, Senma threw herself from the helicopter, causing him to ditch his disguise to go after her, so he could escape before Hakuba had the chance something about him.

As he flew through the air with his hang glider, he watched the way the walls of the Sunset Mansion crumbled away, letting everyone see that the building was actually made of gold.

In spite of it all, Conan couldn't help but smirk. _I see, _he realized, noticing the way the last rays of the sun reflected on the castle's walls, giving out a beautiful golden glimmer. _It really is the Sunset Mansion._

Giving it another last glance, Conan stepped back from the helicopter's door, hands sliding inside his pockets. He paused, however, when he noticed something brushing against his fingers. _He didn't, did he...?_

Knowing better than to pull it off in a tight space surrounded by detectives, he waited until they were at the gas station ─ he had correctly guessed that was the place where the switch between KID and Kogoro had been made and, therefore, the place where the Ran's father would be in ─ and, after making sure Kogoro was busy complaining about the thief with his daughter, he pulled it off.

A fancy-looking white card met his eyes.

"_Good job, Tantei-kun._

_As much as I am amazed by your terrific deductive abilities, there was something amiss with your deduction._

_You shall not forget that not everything is as it seems."_

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Not everything is as it seems...?" he wondered, before he understood. _Eh? So he isn't eighteen?_

_That means... He was driving without a license?_

Looking back at the card he noted that the drawing was missing, so he turned it over. As expected, there was something else written:

"_Now, don't be so surprised. I'm a criminal, if you hadn't noticed."_

The child resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Even if he wasn't talking face to face with him, this thief was as insufferable as he was in person.

"_I hope you come to one of my heists one day, Tantei-kun. Maybe, that way, you will have a reason enough to catch me._

_If you can, that is._

_See you, next illusion._

─ _Your favorite magician, Kaito KID."_

This time the smiling doodle at the end of the card wasn't missing. Conan blinked at it for a couple of seconds before sighing, suddenly exhausted and irritated, and placing the card back on his pocket.

He would make sure to burn it once he got back home.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: For your first question, yeah, probably. For your second one, sorry. I can't say much at the moment.

Asahina Chihaya: I can't answer any of those questions without spoiling. Sorry about it!

To all those that are wondering about Shinichi's reason for joining the BO, I apologize but for the moment my lips are sealed. I will eventually write about it, though, don't worry.


	32. Taken Away

**File Thirty-Two: Taken Away**

"So, Friday the 13th, huh?" Haibara said, a slight smile on her face, as she rested her head on top of her palm. "Quite fitting for such an unlucky detective like you are, huh?"

Conan rolled his eyes, resting his elbows on the table in Professor Agasa's table. He glanced briefly at his three friends, talking to each other happily as they waited for the barbeque to be done.

Even if he had taken part of the planning of his birthday, it wasn't like he had chosen much, really. Since he simply hadn't have an idea of what to have ─ because, really, he didn't mind that much ─ Haibara had suggested having a barbeque and his friends had beamed.

Smiling slightly to himself, he realized that they had really been looking forward to that. Last time they had tried to have a barbeque together, Conan had been shot and every single plan had been immediately thrown out the window.

_Well, I did promise we were having a one after getting out of that cave, _he shrugged. _I didn't think I would make it through, though._

_Yeah, _his smile faltered slightly. _Every time I want to pass some time with them, something bad happens._

"If I'm not mistaken," his eyes flickered back to Haibara. "You must have been born on Tuesday the 13th, right?"

There was a dry chuckle. "You know, in some countries that's an unlucky day as well," he commented, even though he knew that the girl most likely knew that already. "Maybe that's why I'm cursed, huh?"

Haibara looked at him, for a second, before her eyes narrowed a bit. "Don't be stupid," she sighed. "There's not such a thing as curses. Just plain bad luck."

Conan did not say anything, and that worried the girl a little bit.

"Wait, are not thinking that..."

"What do you expect?" he looked away. "Ever since I was born, death has been following me everywhere... It makes you doubt about your beliefs at some point or another."

"Weren't you supposed to be a logical person, Kudo-kun?" at his lack of answer, she pressed further. "Listen, you're _not _cursed. After this party ends, you all are going to go back home and I will stay here with the Professor, then we will see each other in school, like any other day."

An unusually gentle smile appeared on her face, and that shocked the boy a tiny bit.

"Besides, are you really going back on your word?" she questioned. "...'Everything will be better if you just allow yourself to enjoy life,' wasn't it?."

Conan just stared back at her, eyes wide open as her words dawned on him. He didn't say anything, even as she stood up to help the old professor and Ran, who were cutting some carrots and other different vegetables he couldn't see at the moment.

Watching the girl inching a bit away from the teenager, feeling definitely uncomfortable yet still trying, Conan let his lips finally curl upward a tiny bit. If Haibara, of all people, was trying, he should do his best as well, he decided.

True to her words, no tragedy struck and the party went as planned. Everything went perfect, and Ran watched the boy, walking and talking with a wide smile on his face with one of her own. She was glad to see him like this, after everything that had happened.

At least until they found a package on the mailbox right when they were getting back home.

It was a tiny box, wrapped in blue gift paper. And there was a note stuck on the front:

_"Happy Birthday, Conan!"_

Yet, he decided not to open it. No, he _couldn't _open it.

Not when his heart would hurt every time that he held that small box between his two little hands.

* * *

"Hey guys, look, look!" Ayumi's excited voice resounded on the entire classroom while the children waited for the teacher to come. "It has already started snowing outside."

Before Conan knew it, December had already made itself known by painting everything in sight white, in such a beautiful way that instantly gathered the children's attention. Conan couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi awed at it.

"I hope this doesn't turn into a snow war at the end of the day," Conan shrugged. "Right, Haibara-san?"

But when he turned around, he saw an expression on her face that he hadn't expected to find. Her face was as pale as the snow that fell from the sky outside their school, and her eyes were open, widely, terror showing on them. Her hands were shaking.

"_I finally found you," a sinister smile crossed the face of the silver-haired man._

"Haibara-san?" her gaze flickered towards his face.

She gazed into those concerned blue eyes of his.

_She gazed into those dull blue eyes of his._

_But he didn't look back at her, just stared blankly ahead. They were empty, devoid of the life that used to shine in them not that long ago. _

_He was gone._

_It didn't stop there. One by one, her other friends suffered the same fate. A loud sound, then a body falling and light disappearing from their eyes. One after another. _

_Until she was all alone with that man._

_So she collapsed into her knees, her gaze traveling to the snow beneath her. Deep red tainted the perfectly white surface she was crouched over until there was nothing but that disgusting crimson ink._

"_Goodbye," the cold muzzle pressed against her head. "Sherry."_

A pair of hands latched into her arm, jerking her away from whatever was going through her mind. "Come," her eyes flickered towards Ayumi's bright smile. "Come look at the snow with us, Haibara-san!"

"Please don't touch me!" everyone just eyed her as she snapped her head away, causing the other girl to let go, confused. "I'm tired of this place already. I wish I could just disappear," a sad smile drew itself on her face. "Well, one of these days I probably will."

There was a moment of silence, only broken by the chattering from other children in the classroom, who laughed with each other, unaware of the tension that had settled between the group. At least, until Ayumi's eyebrows were brought together.

"Eh?!" Haibara didn't expect the girl to whine. "Haibara-san, are you transferring to another school?"

"Is someone bullying you?" Mitsuhiko joined.

"I'll take care of someone like that!" Genta shouted, determined.

"So please," Ayumi's eyes were tearing up. "Don't say you are leaving us!"

In response, Haibara blinked, a bit stunned by the reaction, before she sighed, a smile on her face. "I was only joking, so don't take me seriously," she assured them. "I have a bit of a cold, so I was in bad mood."

That seemed to convince the three kids, if the sigh of relief they gave out was something to go by. Ayumi smiled and gently started to steer her away from the classroom towards the infirmary.

Conan's piercing gaze didn't leave her back, at least until she disappeared from his sight. Behind his glasses, the boy's eyes narrowed.

It wasn't until several hours later that he said something about it, right when they were walking back home from school.

"This isn't a place I should be," he pronounced, juggling a soccer ball, taking advantage of the fact that his friends were a few feet ahead, playing with the snow. "In order not to get everyone involved, I must disappear from this place as soon as possible," Conan then glanced back at her. "That's what you're thinking right now, isn't it?"

Haibara didn't reply, and he truly didn't expect her to.

"Don't worry. You said it before, right? They believe you're dead," he told her. "You will be okay, as long as you keep the attention out of yourself," he held his ball between his hands, his lips curved into a smirk. "Until the time comes."

Her eyes narrowed, but said nothing as they kept on walking, in silence. Even after the other three children waved goodbye at them, happy smiles on their faces, she didn't even try to break the quietness.

_You don't understand, do you, Kudo-kun? This isn't something you should be involved with._

_You still have a bright future in front of you. They don't know about you. _

_There is still time for you._

_Once they realize you're taking a part on this, the Organization won't let you go._

As they walked, she noticed a group on black crows on the building roof they were passing by. _A bad omen, huh? _Ai let out a dry chuckle, before her eyes went back to the road.

Only to be met with the sight of a black Porsche. Porsche 356A, to be exact.

The fear must have showed on her face, since Conan seemed to turn to her, a confused glint present on his eyes. "Haibara-san?" he questioned. "What's wrong?"

Her gaze dropped to the snow covered ground, hiding her eyes with her bangs.

"Gin," she said in a whisper. "That's... Gin's favourite car model."

His blood ran cold at her words. _Gin?! _

Even so, the boy jumped into action by pulling his phone out and calling the professor. Ai watched, frozen by fear and shock all the same, as he hurriedly asked the old man to bring a few things and then hanging up.

Not long after that, Agasa's yellow beetle pulled up next to them. Conan didn't even say hello to the professor, just took the metal clothes hanger and the wrench he had asked for and rushed to the black porsche.

"Kudo-kun!" she was dragged away from her stupor when she saw him opening the door and climbing up inside. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm planting an transmitter and receiver inside," he pointed out, as if it was obvious.

Haibara got inside as well. "But we haven't confirmed that this is their car-" she froze, suddenly, when her gaze fell on the windshield.

Curious about her abrupt silence, Conan glanced at her over his shoulder. He was a bit confused when he saw her terrified expression, at least until he decided to take a look at the place she was staring at.

Across the road, he saw _them_. Gin and Vodka were slowly making their way back to the car. That pressured him to go faster, so in less than a second he had stuck a gum with the transmitter ─ after erasing his teeth marks, of course ─ under their seat and had wiped all fingerprints.

As he was leaving, however, he paused, taking notice of something.

"What are you doing, Kudo-kun?!"

He barely had the time to retrieve the single strawberry blonde hair the girl had accidentally lost before he was dragged away. They made it out just in time, hiding behind the black car as they watched them getting inside.

_I won't let you escape, _he frowned, as the pair watched the car driving away. _Not this time._

So, he activated his glasses. He could clearly see the red dot quickly moving across the map. In no time, he was jumping inside the professor's vehicle, telling him to follow it.

"It's no use," Haibara's voice came from the backseat. "Even if we successfully found their hideout, it's not like we can do anything. We're only kids, Kudo-kun," her eyes narrowed. "Do you understand how dangerous your actions are right now?"

Conan frowned, but didn't reply. He just turned his attention to his glasses, having heard a phone ringing in Gin's car, waving a hand to the other two so they would keep quiet.

Gin said something about a target appearing at Haido City Hotel at exactly 06:00 PM. He was telling someone else that they could use 'that drug' if they wanted, before referring to that person as Pisco.

"Pisco?" Conan repeated.

"I know that codename," Haibara pointed out. "I think he was in charge of keeping an eye on me when I was much younger, so I don't remember his face, but..."

"You mean that...?"

"What's that thing?" suddenly, he heard Vodka say.

"It's probably a transmitter and a receiver," Gin replied.

Conan flinched. "They found it," he informed.

"W-What?!" Agasa gasped, nervously while Haibara just frowned, having expected such a result.

It wasn't long until Conan couldn't hear anything else ─ he could easily imagine Gin crushing the little transmitter with his hand ─ and for Haibara to point out the stupidity of his actions and the dangerous position they were in right now, to which the boy replied that he had erased every single piece of evidence, so he figured they would be safe.

But at least they knew where the Organization was going to strike next. Haido City Hotel. They were going to kill somebody there, so naturally the young boy had to attempt to stop the murder.

"Oh, what a strong sense of justice you have there," Haibara raised an eyebrow. "But I'm different from you. I have no interest in justice and those kinds of abstract things."

"Yeah, I know. I assumed you were going to stay here because it's dangerous for you," Conan told her. "I'll at least get the drug from them," then continued, upon noticing the confused expression of the scientist. "Gin said that 'it didn't matter even if he used the drug,' which pretty much screams Apotoxin-4869 to me, doesn't it?"

Haibara was shocked beyond words. However, even if she wasn't, she wouldn't be able to say anything at all, because all of sudden, Conan's attention seemed to drift somewhere else, for some reason. He just blinked, cluelessly, before turning to Agasa.

"Professor, Haido City Hotel is the other way," he pointed out.

"Yes, that's right," he replied, his grip tightening against the wheel. "We're going back home."

"... Eh?"

"This has gone too far Conan," the professor gave the child a serious look, more serious that he has seen him in his entire short life, before turning back to the road. "You told me yourself that these people are far too dangerous. I can't just let you go there."

The boy ignored the way Haibara seemed to smirk, triumphantly. Just let a faint frown carve itself on his face.

"So, Ai-kun, will you please call the police and-?"

"... Then, what about the drug?" the boy's voice reached his ears and caused the old man to pause. "This is probably the last chance we have to acquire it."

Agasa's lips pressed together. "Ai-kun was the scientist behind its creation, and she has already developed a prototype. With time, she-"

"We don't have time, and you know it," the old man refused to look at the young boy on his eyes. "If we don't hurry. Haibara-san and Shinichi..." the little detective hesitated, before sighing and continuing. "... Shinichi-niichan... They both will... They won't last much longer."

"Oh," Haibara's voice came from the backseat. "It's good to see you still care about your brother, even if you two aren't in talking terms anymore."

"Idiot," the child turned to the window. "That's... no relevant."

The girl didn't say anything in return, mostly because she knew what he was talking about.

Even if that boy in front of his eyes was feeling betrayed and overall angry because all he had known about his brother was fake, and overly disappointed and disgusted from finding out that a detective he admired so much ─ because Conan looked up at Shinichi, even if the youngest would never admit it ─ was doing all that behind his back, he still was unable to stop caring.

Despite all that, Conan couldn't bear the thought of his brother dying, if the way his fists clenched was something to go by.

And it seemed like Agasa understood as well, turning around on the next street to reach the hotel in time, with a grim expression on his face.

"At least let me go with you," the professor said to the child, once they had pulled up in front of the hotel.

Unsurprisingly, Conan shook his head.

"I need you to keep watch. Please call me if you see something suspicious," he spoke. "And if it's dangerous for Haibara-san in some way, leave. I'll manage on my own," seeing the hesitation on the professor's face, he continued. "They don't know my face, I'll be fine."

With a smile on his face, the child left and the older man was left in the car, helplessly staring at the boy's back as he walked away, until he heard the back door opening.

"Ai-kun, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to keep watch on Kudo-kun," she explained. "Knowing him, he might do something stupid so I need to stop him before he does."

Agasa could only stare for a second, before sighing. "Alright," figuring he couldn't argue with this child any longer, he settled with a sigh. "Before you leave, Conan forgot a hoodie last week and he hadn't picked it up yet. It must be still inside the trunk," Agasa told her. "Take it, in case you need to cover yourself."

With a nod, Haibara quickly went to fetch the piece of clothing before going to catch up with the other kid. Inside his car, the professor could only watch as she finally reached him before entering the hotel together.

The old professor leaned back.

Without the children around, this car was unusually silent. He didn't like it one bit.

* * *

Upon opening the door, Haibara and Conan found themselves staring at the countless people that were in there, laughing with each other as they ate and drunk. Since it was a mourning party, every single of them were dressed in black so no luck there.

Well, even if they weren't, Conan figured it wouldn't be so easy. While undercover, it wouldn't be surprising if Pisco was wearing another different colour altogether.

So, sighing to himself, the boy walked closer to the center of the room, the girl trailing behind him.

"_Sherry," _at least, until she heard _that _voice.

Ai froze on her spot before, ever so slowly, she began to turn. Her skin began to crawl at the sight of that sadistic grin, silver hair flowing in the air and the gun, glinting against the light, being pulled from his black overcoat and pointed at her.

"_Sherry."_

A hand rested on her shoulder.

She spun around, with a squeak, before realizing it was only a waitress, sweetily smiling down at her.

"What's the matter little girl?" the worker asked, softly. "Did you get separated from your parents?"

Her heart still pounded heavily against her chest. Briefly, she glanced at the spot she had seen Gin before and found it empty. _He's not here,_ she tried to reassure herself. _I am safe. Everyone is safe. He's not here._

"Yeah, we are looking for them right now," Conan was quick to cover for her. "Let's go, Hana-chan!"

Haibara was silent, even as the boy took her hand and started to take her away. Once they were out of sight, Conan let go and gave her a questiongly look, his eyebrow raised far above his hairline.

"Hey, hey, what has gotten into you?" he asked her. "This is so unlike you."

Even if the girl smiled, Conan could tell it was fake. There was something... sad about it.

"I had a bad dream," she finally confessed.

At that, the boy could only stare back at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. He noticed the darkness behind those eyes of hers, and he couldn't help but wonder how bad this dream could be to leave Haibara, from all people, _this _shaken.

"On my way home, Gin spotted me. He chased me into the alleyway, and you were the first person to be shot. And then, with the reloading of his gun... Everyone else... One after another... Just because they were involved with me..."

Her voice broke in the middle, for a slight second, so she paused. Eyes closing and smile faltering a bit, she continued in a softer voice.

"Maybe if I had been killed by the Organization back there... Then there would be less hassle."

Something cold touched the bridge of her nose and ears so she opened her eyes, startled, only to see Conan, without those ridiculous big glasses she had grown used to see on him. Everything was blurrier, too.

Shaky hands went to her own face and realized where they had gone.

"There you go," she saw the boy ─ or at least she _thought _she saw, considering she was looking at him through lenses her eyes definitely did not need ─ letting out an unusually soft smile. "With those you really look like another person. Even Clark Kent would be surprised, you know."

Haibara blinked at him, confused for a moment, before a smirk adorned her face. "Really?" she said to him. "Then you, who took off his glasses, would be Superman?"

"Except I can't fly," he grinned.

Haibara rolled her eyes. "Oh, well. At least it will relieve some stress," she pushed the glasses closer to her face. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah," he crossed his arms behind his head. "You better take good care of them because I want them back, Hana-chan."

The girl paused for a moment and gave him a long look, causing Conan to blink, unable to understand what she was thinking about now.

"Hana-chan?" she repeated. "Why would you choose that name?"

"... Because that was the first name I thought of?"

Her eyes narrowed a bit, puzzling the boy for a moment, before she shrugged. "Well, that's nice," she commented before starting to walk. "I guess that's better than to be called after a foreign novel author I guess."

Conan didn't move for a moment, taking a moment to think over her words, until his eyebrow started to twitch. _Hey, hey._

"What are you doing?" Haibara called a few feet ahead of him. "You're slow, Sherlock-kun."

"I'm going," he replied with a childish grin. "Wait for me, Irene-chan!"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes once more, before her hand went to the dial at the side of the glasses, turning it until she could see. "Seriously, though," she let out a teasing smirk. "You're blind as a bat."

"Shut up."

* * *

Even if he had called Inspector Megure over using his brother's voice, the target still got murdered. The killer had taken advantage of the darkness that had settled in because of the slide show taking place and, somehow, managed to make the chandelier fall on top of Nomiguchi Shigehiko, killing him instantly.

The only clue left behind that, so far, Conan had found had literally fell on him. A cloth had landed on the top of his head. It was purple, he had observed once the lights had come back.

There was also the weird piece of metal that Mihei Yasuo had spit, that had accidentally found its way into his plate he was somehow eating even after seeing a man crushed to death in front of his eyes.

Conan picked it up. It was a piece of the chandelier chain.

_What does it have to do with anything? _the boy wondered, as he glanced up at the broken chain hanging from the ceiling. _How in the world did he...?_

A hand suddenly latched into his and, soon, Conan found himself dragged away from the crime scene. "H-Hey," he managed, tripping on his feet at the sudden motion. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to run away," Haibara said to him, as if it was obvious. "It's too dangerous to continue to stay here and waste time. Besides, if we're discovered by Inspector Megure, how are you going to explain this?"

Conan knew being found by Megure was the least of their problems, but he didn't say anything. The look on her eyes told him she was aware of it as well.

"Besides," she continued. "You can't really solve a murder only with the piece of chain you picked up earlier."

Managing to free himself from her grasp, he smirked. "How about this?" he said, pulling out the purple handkerchief. "It's owner probably received this at the front door," briefly he glanced at the other people. "Everyone is holding one, in different colours. The late director was famous for working on the movie _Rainbow Colored Handkerchief. _So, most likely, they gave one of these at the entrance. Therefore, this one must be one of them."

"... Shouldn't this be obvious by looking at the corner of the handkerchief?" Haibara's eyebrows raised. "It clearly says '_Director Sakamaki's Mourning Party,' _Kudo-kun."

Conan blinked a bit, turning it over to see. "Oh," he couldn't see more than a blur of black characters. "So that's what it says..."

A giggle prompted the child to glare at her.

"Are you sure you don't want these back?"

"I don't need them, thank you."

"Honestly, I can't tell if you're being a gentleman or just plain stupid."

"Well, excuse me for being stupid."

Without any further word, Conan pulled his hoodie up, just like Haibara had a few seconds ago, stomped towards the door and cutely asked the officers for permission to go to the toilet.

Once he opened it, they were ambushed by several cameras flashing up on them.

Little did they know that they had accidentally brought the attention of someone else. The mystery man glanced at the girl. His eyes opened, widely, when the light of the flash let him see her face, which had been darkened by the hood she was wearing.

So, without anyone noticing, he pulled out his phone and typed a short message:

"_Sherry is alive."_

Taking advantage of the commotion, Conan pulled Haibara with him as he slipped away between the several legs of the reporters.

Not even wasting a second to take a breath, he rushed towards the counter and childishly asked the receptionist for the people that had a purple handkerchief, claiming that he wanted to give it back to the person it belonged to.

She showed him the guest list, and didn't really thought it would be a problem until he realized he couldn't actually read.

"Mugikura Naomichi, Masuyama Kenzo, Chris Vineyard, Nanjo Mika, Mihei Yasuo, Tarumi Naoya and Tawara Yoshiharu," he heard her voice whisper to him, so he turned to thank her until she continued. "Now I can tell. You _are_ just stupid."

"Heh, thank you for nothing."

She shrugged, walking a few steps away from him, leaving him alone with his own thoughts. _I can't be certain, but maybe amongst these seven people, _he let out a smirk. _One of them is most likely Pisco._

The doors opening brought the tiny detective out of his thoughts, his head snapped around to see the guests rushing out in panic, after probably being let go. _This is bad, _Conan frowned, suddenly finding himself in a forest of legs. _We need to return to the professor's car and..._

"Haibara-san," he turned around to tell that to Haibara, only to find himself alone. "Hey, Haibara-san? Where are you?"

Nobody replied, causing the boy to worry. He started to search for her, screaming her name in hopes of finding her face anywhere.

"Haibara-san! Answer me!"

Nothing. She wasn't anywhere.

It was as if Haibara had disappeared into the thin air.

"Haibara-san!" he cried, desperately.

He didn't notice, however, the man that had picked her up and cradled her unconscious form against his shoulder, just like a loving father could carry a peacefully sleeping child.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Thanks for your suggestion! I will take it into consideration if I ever write that movie.

Asahina Chihaya: Thank you for suggesting it! I know that you mean, it would be cool if that happened XD Being honest, I'm not completely sure of what is going to happen when Conan meets Akai, but I might take that into consideration when I write that.


	33. Close Call

**File Thirty-Three: Close Call**

"...ra-san..." the sound filtered through her mind. "... bara-san!"

_What's that? _she could only wonder, as the voice grew louder and louder.

"Haibara-san, please answer!"

_Who are you?_

"Haibara-san!"

Her eyes snapped open, only to find herself staring at the ceiling. "Haibara-san!" the voice called again, yet this time she managed to recognize it.

"Kudo-kun?" she mumbled, sitting up and dazely looking around in an attempt to figure out where she was. There was a relieved sigh and, for a moment, she wondered where was his voice coming from."Where are you?"

"I'm in the professor's car in front of the hotel," the boy told her. "I'm communicating with you through the microphone and speaker in the glasses."

Looking around, Haibara frowned, unable to remember what she was doing in a place like that. "What happened to me?"

"That's what I want to know! What happened in the hallway in front of the party room?"

"... In front of the party room?" she slowly pressed her hand against her head, which was hurting a lot. "Oh, at that time, I got engulfed by the wave of people... And got separated from you... Then, someone came from my back and..." upon remembering the recent events, she gasped, finally realizing what was going on. "Someone made me sniff some drug and now I'm being confined in some storage room for wines."

"H-Hey," cold sweat dripped from Conan's forehead. "Could that someone be...?"

"Yeah, it's probably the member of the Organization that managed to commit murder under the supervision of the police," her eyes narrowed. "Pisco."

As Conan seemed to take his time to let the words sink, Haibara stood up to examine the room she had gotten captive in. The door was locked, as expected, and there was nothing in that room but a large cardboard box for goods, where she guessed she had been put in to get her in that place.

"Just hurry up, Haibara-san," Conan said to her. "There has to be a way out of that room."

Haibara paused for a moment, causing the boy to wonder what was going on.

"Listen, Kudo-kun, if you go to my computer there should be a folder with all the progress I have been making on the antidote," she said to him, confusing the small detective for a moment.

"W-What are you talking about, Haibara-san?"

"It might be hard, but I believe that you are more than capable to find another person to finish what I have started. The password is..."

"Stop it!" he shouted at her. "You can tell me that password once you get out of there, so-!"

"Just shut up and listen!" Haibara's voice was firm, before it dropped to a softer tone. "I can't ever... I can't ever exchange words with you again."

"What do you mean?" the boy didn't really like where this was going.

"Don't you understand? They know I'm alive and that I'm here, in this city. Even if I do escape from here, they will find me in no longer than two days, if I'm lucky," she explained, a defeated smile on her face. "If that happens the Professor who had been protecting me is a definite, and all the others who were involved with me would be killed by them to preserve their secrecy."

Conan's teeth clenched, seeing the truth behind her words.

"You get it? Whether I'm killed here or if I manage to escape here successfully, I've already been forced into a state where I can no longer come in contact with any of you."

"... I get it," he finally said, with a sigh. "But I refuse to hear anything else about the drug from you," Haibara's eyebrows raised at that, confused. "You can tell me anything you want _after _you get out of that room. Then, we'll see where to go from there."

"Ah, really?" she smirked, just as she noticed a computer in the corner of the room. "What are you going to do if I refuse?"

"I'll personally go look for a storage room and tell them there's a girl trapped inside," he replied, as if it was obvious. "But it would be a pity, right? Because Pisco would see me and know I'm involved with you."

That was extremely reckless yet, at the same time, _so _like him. Haibara knew the boy would do that if she didn't agree to his terms. "So you would go to save me, risking your own integrity in the process?" she teased, sitting behind the computer she had found. "I see, you really _are _Superman."

Looking at the screen she noticed that whoever had brought her there was analyzing the disk she had in her pocket. She barely remembered getting that from Mitsuhiko that morning, he had returned Agasa's game after finishing it the other night.

"Idiot, I'm no superhero," she paused when his voice, softer and kinder than she had ever heard him use before, sounded in her ears. "I'm only Edogawa Conan... No, _Kudo _Conan," his lips curved into a small, yet sad smile, even if she couldn't see it. "... Your friend."

Haibara's eyes opened, slightly, due to the surprise.

"So of course I'm not letting you throw your life away just like that."

It took her a second to recover from the shock. "Ah, really? Thank you. That was unusually sweet coming from you, Kudo-kun," she let out another teasing smirk. "Is this the moment where I'm supposed to hug you and say that the feeling is reciprocated?"

From the other side of the transmitter, Agasa noticed the faint blush colouring Conan's cheeks as he gave out an annoyed groan, but decided not to say anything about it.

"No, this is the moment where you go look for a way out."

"That's easy for you to say," she huffed looking around. "There's no escape route in this room. The only thing that's here is an old chimney."

"Can you climb it up?"

She got inside it and looked around. "It's too big," she noted, her hand resting against the crumbly surface. "If I needed to, I guess I _could _get a grip on the bricks, but..."

"Is there another way?"

"I don't think so."

Conan groaned, loudly. "Try to look for one," he said to her. "I'll pick out Pisco from that group of seven in the meantime."

"It's not like I have that much time," she pointed out. "I'm not tied up, they just left me here. Which means they are in a hurry."

"No, he won't be able to come back for a while," he replied, to her surprise. "After you disappeared I called Inspector Megure and instructed him not to let the guests with purple handkerchiefs leave Haido City Hotel, using my brother's voice of course."

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be amazed or disturbed about how easily you can pretend to be other people."

Conan wisely decided not to comment on that.

* * *

The reporter on Agasa's computer faded away from their sight and was soon replaced by another one, changing the topic of the news to another random one. By that time, Conan had somehow managed to figure out the position of the seven suspects right after the murder.

But he still couldn't tell who did it. Playing with the pen on his hand, he sighed tiredly.

"Hey," Haibara's voice broke through the silence. "How do you spell Hercule Poirot?"

"Eh?" he blinked, confused. "What are you supposed to be doing?"

"Just tell me."

Rolling his eyes, Conan spelled it for her. He listened as she seemed to type that in a computer before groaning, tiredly.

"What is all of that about?"

"Pisco was trying to analyze the Professor's disk I had in my pocket," she explained. "I wanted to transfer the drug's data from the Organization to the disk, but I got struck on the password."

Her laboured breathing could be heard through the microphone. _Maybe her cold got worse._

"The people of the Organization were calling the drug by this name," she said, weakly. "Changing the serial number from 4869 to Sherlock, The Incomplete Detective. So I've been sticking in the names of famous detectives as they popped into my head."

His smile broke into a smirk. "Shelling Ford," he said, before spelling it for her. Hesitantly, she typed that name and, to her surprise, it worked. "That's a temporary name that Conan Doyle gave to his detective before he named him Sherlock."

She gave him a soft chuckle. "I'm glad I have a mystery nerd around, then," Haibara said, hoarsely.

At the sound of her voice, Conan frowned. "Did your fever go up?" he asked, concerned.

Conan heard the furious typing on the keyboard stopping, suddenly. Before he could ask what was going on, she sighed loudly. "I'll let you in a secret, Kudo-kun," Haibara confessed. "I don't really have a cold."

"You don't?" he blinked, confused since it had seemed to him that she had been feeling poorly today at school, at best. "Then what...?"

He trailed off, finally realizing what she meant. _It's the drug, _he concluded, remembering how his brother had looked the day they met at the diplomat's house. Pale, sweating profusely, ragged breathing...

"You have to leave now," Conan urged her. "We're running out of time and if they get to you as you begin to get chest pains..."

The typing resumed.

"Listen, Kudo-kun, I'll drop the info in the disk and hide it in this wine storage room," his eyes widened as she said that. "Come and get it later... After the Organization has taken me away."

"H-Hey!" he began to get nervous. "Haibara-san, stop that! You need to get out of there."

The typing continued. Conan groaned, feeling impotent to do anything to convince the girl to forget everything about the drug and escape. There was no way he could reason with her, that was for sure. _What should I do?_

Then, it occurred to him.

"Look," Conan tried. "If you don't care enough about your wellbeing, at the very least... At the very least, think about my brother."

Now, Conan wasn't the type that actually enjoyed stepping so low to actually guilt-trip someone into doing what he wished, but shouldn't this one time be allowed?

"Shinichi-san?"

Good. Somehow _that _was working, it seemed.

"He has less than two years left," he explained to her, slowly and clearly, seriousness lacing into his every word. "That's too little time to find a scientist to develop a complete antidote but it may be enough for you, the creator of the drug, to figure something out... So, please..."

Haibara seemed to stop typing at those words, causing Conan to hold down a sigh of relief.

"That's a bit hypocritical coming from you," she pointed out. There was a teasing tone on her voice, though, that calmed the boy down just a little. "Considering you said the opposite back then at the Professor's car."

"... I reconsidered?"

At his side, however, Agasa gasped. "C-Conan," he called. "The front!"

Looking up, Conan felt his breathing hitching. A black porsche had just pulled up a few feet ahead, and two people were getting out of the old car. "Gin?!" he cried, as he watched the silver haired man look around, before going to talk with Vodka.

"Could it be that Pisco somehow managed to slip a message?" the old man frowned.

As the men in black approached the door of the hotel, Conan began to feel his blood running cold upon the realization of _what _they were doing there in the first place.

"Haibara-san, they are coming!" instantly, he shouted through the microphone. "Get on the chimney or something, quick!"

He could only hear her heavy breathing.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" she wouldn't answer. "Hey!"

Haibara screamed in pain.

So Conan dialed a number on his phone and, with the bowtie in front of his mouth, he rushedly said:

"Inspector, this is Kudo!"

* * *

The door to the wine storage burst open and Vodka came in first, gun in hand, looking for the child scientist. They had, after all, tracked Pisco's computer and it had brought them to that place.

"Pisco isn't here," he told his partner.

Gin didn't answer, just walked around the place until his eyes fixed on the chimney at the corner of the room. He stood close to it and paused, even if Vodka hadn't noticed his change of attitude and kept on talking.

"I guess that brat is not here," he said to his silent partner. "We should hurry up before she gets any further away."

The tall man smirked. "That's right," he said, before closing the door behind his back.

They were gone as quickly as they had arrived, letting silence settled in the empty room once more.

At least, until the scientist gave out a long sigh.

"Hey," the boy's voice rang through her ears. "Did they leave?"

"Yeah," she managed between gasps. "I think so."

"That's good," he told her. "Now, stay where you are, out of sight. I'll go and pick you out."

Even if Conan couldn't see her, she shook her head. "Don't. It is possible that they were trying to trick me and are actually waiting for me outside the door. It's too dangerous for you to come," Haibara told him, her voice shaking from the exertion. She looked up from under the hood that was covering most of her head and began to climb. "I-I think I can make it to the top."

"Idiot, what if you slip or something?"

Haibara did not reply, in favour of going faster, adrenaline pumping up her small muscles so she could climb towards safety. "What about you?" she asked before he could press any further, forcing her tired body to just keep _moving_. "...Did you... find out who Pisco is?"

"Well..."

"For our sake... I hope it takes you less time than figuring Singani's identity out..."

"Hey, hey..."

The girl barely managed to draw the strength enough to draw out a smirk, solely focused on her escape. _Just a bit longer, _she tried to convince herself, even if her limbs were in so much pain she didn't even know how she was managing to get them to move, or if she couldn't even feel her fingers, even if they still had the strength to grip into the bricks to pull her weight up.

Her fear, together with her will to live, was overcoming all the pain she was going through.

Just then, Agasa showed Conan a photograph he had found on the net. There was a photo that had been taken just before the accident, where two of the suspects were embracing. Conan stared at it for a while, when his eyes opened widely. He pulled out the purple handkerchief ─ which had a strange burn mark on it ─ along with the broken chain part. Obscuring it a bit with his hand he noticed it. It was shining.

All pieces came into place.

Not long thereafter, an exhausted Haibara Ai came out from the chimney, rolling away in the ground while she recovered her breath, deciding that she was _never _doing that again.

"... I'm out," she finally managed, between gasps.

"Great job, Ai-kun," it was Agasa's voice. "Do you know where you are?"

"Looks like a roof," she pointed out. "Is Kudo-kun not there?"

"Yeah, he was talking with Inspector Megure on the phone just now, but went to the hotel in a hurry," he informed the child. "Don't worry, we know Pisco's identity. He told me to tell you that he'll go there and pick you up soon, so just wait there."

She groaned, using all her strength to get up from the cold snow. "It's not like I have a choice in the matter, huh?" she let out a resigned smile. "I can barely move as it is."

With an amazing display of willpower, the little girl managed to stand up. She wobbled a bit, but managed to stay upright.

But all of her efforts were in vain, since she soon fell back on her knees due to the burning pain on her shoulder. Looking at the ground, she could see her blood drawing beautiful patterns on the pale snow.

And spinning around she could see _him. _Silver hair, murderous eyes and a gun pointing right at her.

"Long time not see," he let out a wicked smile. "Sherry."

Pressing her hand against her shoulder, Haibara couldn't help but frown. Gin, the one member she definitely did _not _want to see again in her entire life was there, standing in front of her, grinning devilishly.

She could only wonder how long she had until he placed a bullet in her head.

"I'm surprised," deciding to buy as much time as she could, she managed a smirk. "How did you know that I would come out of this chimney?"

"As soon as I entered the room, I could tell. I imagined you would try to escape from there," he replied, with a chuckle that made her hair stand to an end. "And then I could hear it. From the chimney, your quivering breathing."

Haibara could only grit her teeth.

"You're clever, but not enough to outsmart me, little brat," his sinister smile grew wider. "Haven't I told you before? I can read _all _of your movements. You'll _never _escape me."

"Then, why didn't you kill me in that dirty chimney?" she asked between gasps. "Since you are not letting me escape."

"Because there's something that still intrigues me, and I'll ask you while those lips can still move," his gun raised higher. "About the trick you used to fake your death and escape from that burning building."

Her eyes narrowed even further, if possible.

* * *

Conan took off running, completely ignoring the ladies on the reception desk he had just been talking to. Using his cute little child's charm, he had easily gotten the information he needed and was currently heading towards the storage room they had just told him about.

His phone beeped, so he answered it without stopping. "Conan, this is bad!" Agasa's voice blared in his ear as soon as he pressed the device against his head. "Ai-kun got shot!"

"What?!" he shouted. "Haibara-san?!"

"Yes, on a roof somewhere," came the old man's panicked voice. "Be careful and-!"

He didn't get to listen to the rest of it since his battery had died, but he figured he knew the rest already. So, clenching his teeth, he willed himself to run as fast as humanly possible.

_Haibara-san, please hold on! _he cried on his head. _Haibara-san!_

* * *

Haibara collapsed on top of the cold snow, hurting all over.

At that point, she wished she could just lose consciousness or just die already, but it seemed she wouldn't have the luxury of a painless departure. The wounds inflicted to her entire body weren't that serious actually since, most likely, Gin's intention wasn't to kill her right away but to get her to spill her secrets. Even if he had shot several times, he had yet to shoot any vital point.

He was desperate, she could see it. Gin _needed _to know how she had managed to escape.

"_Hold on a little longer, Shiho-chan!"_

Her lips remained sealed, pressed against each other, refusing to say anything.

"Bro, this brat won't talk," Vodka pointed out at his side.

"I guess there's nothing we can do," Gin agreed, raising his gun again, pointing at her head this time. "Let's send her to her sister, whom we sent first."

Even if it was tempting, Haibara did not close her eyes. She just sent him a last glare while she waited for the bullet that would end her life.

A needle shot through the air.

When he felt the prick, Gin looked over his shoulder to see that little thing struck on the backside of his arm. Just as he was wondering what was that supposed to be, he felt his strength draining.

Vodka rushed over to him, confused at the sight of his partner suddenly dropping to one knee.

"The chimney!" a nondescript male voice shouted from behind the door. "Get into the chimney!"

"W-Who are you?!" Vodka fired a shot towards the source of the sound.

"Hurry!" yet, it seemed like the man had avoided it.

Vodka groaned, spinning around to see Haibara leaning over the chimney. He tried to shoot her, but the bullet barely grazed her back before she collapsed, dropping down from a story long height.

As if it wasn't enough, her chest started hurting. Her teeth clenched, as she fought to get the pain under control, yet the burning sensation would not leave. _I don't have time for this_, she decided, as she tried to crawl outside the room, only to make it a few inches before screaming due to the pain.

So she collapsed, completely devoid of energy. At least, the pain in her chest had subsided by now...

But then, she heard steps coming her way. Opening her eyes, she could see a pair of feet coming her way.

"Oh, look at you. You've grown a lot since I had last saw you," the voice was getting closer and closer, yet she couldn't move a muscle. "I can still remember the first time I saw you. You were so tiny in your mother's arms..."

_Pisco, _she frowned and struggled to move. No avail.

"Did you know? I was close with your parents who were scientists," Pisco kneeled down next to her. "To see you have grown to take over their project... But this is an order," even if her sight was blurring at the second, she still could see him pulling out a gun. "Don't blame me for this, Shiho-chan."

He pointed the gun to her head, and she waited for the inevitable. A voice, however, boomed through the room and caused Pisco to pause.

"Hold it right there!" it was Conan's voice, no doubts about it. "Masuyama-san... Or should I call you Pisco?"

Pisco spun around, clearly surprised about that, almost dropping the cigarette on his mouth due to the shock. Yet, he could not see the source of the voice anywhere.

"You probably think you skillfully dropped the chandelier upon Nomiguchi-san's head to make it look like an accident," he continued, but Pisco still couldn't see him anywhere. "But things will never go that smoothly."

As the child explained the crime to the older man, he walked around the room, looking for the one that surely knew far too much for his own good. He searched for him, following the voice, in every corner of that little storage room, but he wasn't anywhere.

The trick had been simple, the kid had explained. A little fluorescent paint on the floor ─ after the victim had been promised that he would receive help to escape the police and thus interpreting that spot being a signal for it ─ and a bit in the chain of the chandelier was almost all he needed.

With a silenced gun, the handkerchief over the muzzle so the spark could remain unseen, Pisco had shot to the shining spot and, like so, the deed had been done.

"Considering everyone's alibis, it could've only been you, Masuyama-san."

"There you are!" the Masuyama shouted while appearing from around the shelves, firing a few shots.

He only managed to break a few bottles of spirits, which started to leak to the floor. Pisco paid no mind, only moved closer, just to realize there was a speaker stuck at the side of one of the boxes.

"Wh-Who...?" he breathed out, shocked. "Who are you?!"

A small figure showed itself, standing right in front of Haibara. "Edogawa Conan," the little boy said, lips curving into a smile as he slipped his hands inside his pockets. "A detective."

"D-Detective?"

"Yup," he chirped, innocently. "Maybe you should quit smoking, you know. It's not good for you," the sweet grin turned into an arrogant smirk. "Especially when there's _that _under your feet."

One look was enough for him to realize what the child was talking about. The alcoholic drink he had shot by accident was forming a pool beneath him, causing him to take a step back in fear. As he did that, the cigarette slipped from his mouth and fell on top of it.

Flames came to life after that.

From the place she was in, Haibara couldn't help but gaze at the fire slowly starting to take over the small room and, without meaning to, her eyes opened widely in horror.

The excruciating warmth... The smoke... The sight of every single thing being swallowed by the fire as she could do nothing but watch, waiting for her turn to disappear as well...

It all came back to her. So, she closed her eyes tightly.

But then, she felt herself being lifted in someone else's back, so her eyes opened again in shock. Haibara looked right into Conan's worried yet determined blue gaze as he looked back at her over his shoulder. His mouth was opening and closing as he said something that was lost to her in the sea of her own panic.

_That's right... Just like that other time, I..._

Soon, the boy had carried her outside the burning room was and running down the stairs. Only then, she felt her senses coming back to her.

But she didn't move, just pressed her face against his shoulder wishing, now more than ever, that nobody else saw her face.

* * *

"What?!" Conan was beyond shocked. "Gin killed Pisco?!"

"Yeah," Agasa replied, not letting his eyes stray away from the path ahead. "I was listening to the conversation through the glasses Ai-kun forgot in the chimney."

The boy frowned, slightly, as he held his chin, deep in thought. While it was true it had been difficult to aim correctly without his glasses, he could tell for a fact that he had correctly shot Gin with the tranquilizer gun. He still couldn't get around the fact that he had somehow managed to shook it off, kill Pisco then run away from the police.

There was something else that confused Conan a bit, as well. While he had been carrying Haibara towards the car, he had told him she had gotten discovered because Gin had been able to read her movements perfectly.

"_He hasn't changed one bit," _she had mumbled against his shirt, more to herself than to him.

He hadn't said anything about it at the moment, but he still hadn't been able to get it out his head.

"Say, Haibara-san, when you were in the Organization... were you and Gin...?"

Looking over his shoulder, she could see the girl, who lied down on the backseat, covering her eyes with arm, tensing at his words. Her limb moved away from her face, letting him see her stare up the ceiling with a distant look on her eyes.

"You pointed it out before, right? When we first met," she finally answered, her voice soft. "That I knew how to handle a gun."

It took Conan a few seconds, until he finally understood the meaning behind her words. As an indication of it, his eyes opened widely.

"Pain tolerance, stealth, gun firing. Everything that's necessary in case of capture, torture and eventually escaping," Haibara continued. "Gin was ordered to teach me all that."

There was nothing Conan could say about that, since he didn't need her to say anything for him to know that Gin wasn't probably a compasive teacher. He could only shudder when he imagined what she had to go through.

"That's how he knows. He knows my every move," she let out a humorless laugh. "Looks like it was silly to think that I would be free from _them_, huh?"

Her fists clenched, slightly. Conan simply gave her a long look, before focusing his gaze back to the road.

"So," he finally asked. "What are you planning to do now?"

"Let's see... Now that they know I'm in this city I can no longer stay with you guys. And all the data was probably destroyed by Gin even if it survived the fire," she replied with a sigh. "There's no more reason for me to stay here... Don't worry, I'll leave first thing tomorrow for you."

She didn't expect Conan to smirk at that.

"Alright, then everything is fine."

"... Eh?"

* * *

"Eh? You're not going to look for that brat in this city?"

"Yeah, I'm a shogun that doesn't do useless things," Gin simply replied. "She's probably long gone by now with that man that came to save her. She's not that stupid as to stay in a city where her face was seen by us."

Vodka nodded at that, focusing back to the road. "Aren't you curious, though?" he commented. "About who that man was. He seemed to know about us."

Gin's expression twisted, a frown present on his face as his teeth clenched, definitely disgusted at the thought of whoever had just crossed his mind.

"I can only think about that _one _person," he then scowled. "The only man I know that would do something as stupid as to shoot a tranquilizer needle to us."

There was a laugh behind them. "Have you forgotten already, Gin?" the woman said to him, as she fixed her lipstick from the backseat. "That person is long dead," she stated. "We saw his body disappear in the ocean with our own eyes."

The tall man smirked. "That's right," he nodded, before continuing, glancing briefly over his shoulder. "Sorry, Vermouth. We called a woman like you help that old geezer, and made you get in such a mess."

Vermouth just shrugged, a pleased smile still on her lips as she lit up a cigarette .

"Are you going to return to America again?" Vodka questioned. "I has been a while since you came back here all those months ago."

"No, I'm going to take a break from being an actress," she replied. "I plan to relax in Japan for a while."

Vermouth gazed towards the darkened street outside her window.

And said nothing more, as the black porsche drove by in the middle of the silently still night.

* * *

A/N:

Dy: Yeah, that scene you're talking about is absolutely fantastic XD Don't worry, I'll cover that episode when the times comes... If I live long enough to write it, that is lol!

Asahina Chihaya: Indeed, that sounds pretty fun when you think about it XD Still, I wonder if Conan would actually be okay with people constantly mistaking him with his brother, lol!


	34. The First Three Targets

**File Thirty-Four: The First Three Targets**

"Ah! Look, look! Conan-kun and I are a perfect match!"

The three boys sitting a few feet away from her flinched at that, completely startled. They all turned to look at Ayumi, who was standing in front of an old arcade machine. The game was about tarot cards or some of that girly stuff ─ Conan didn't really know, he hadn't paid much attention.

Conan's lip twitched, slightly, as he heard the other two denying the claim ─ Genta was sure the game was broken while Mitsuhiko claimed that fortune-telling was definitely fake. His eyes turned to the screen, noticing that it clearly said '_You and your boyfriend are a complete match!'_

_Really, when exactly did I become her boyfriend?_

She smiled at him, widely, before returning to the game. He couldn't help but sigh when he spotted her putting in the date '_November 13th' _in the machine. _Hey, hey, don't go finding out other people's fortunes..._

"This must be about me and Conan-kun!" she squealed when the words '_A sudden closeness to your special someone!' _appeared on screen.

The boy gave it a long look, before a dry chuckle escaped from his lips. _Yep, definitely broken, _he decided before spotting two people coming their way.

In the distance, he spotted Haibara walking in front of Agasa, who seemed to be apologizing for some reason if the nervous smile on his face was something to go by. She was crossing her arms in front of her chest, probably complaining about something ─ Conan guessed it was the reason they were late in the first place.

In no time, they were standing right in front of them. Only then, the boy noticed the dark bags under the girl's eyes.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Haibara apologized, muffing a yawn under her hand before continuing. "I forgot to set up my alarm," then turned to glare at Agasa. "And it seems like the Professor here slept right through it, as usual."

Agasa let out a strangled laugh, before turning to look at three pairs of unamused looks shot his way. Even the three boys in front of him knew that, hadn't Haibara been there, they would have been waiting for hours to an end.

"A chance for an 'A'?" came Ayumi's curious voice.

They all turned to her, just to realize she was still playing the same game.

"Ayumi-chan," Conan blinked. "Whose birthday did you put in?"

"Shinichi-oniisan's," she replied, with a bright smile. "This fortune-telling was so much fun that I wanted to try it with other people, so..."

"A-Ah," he forced a smile. "Is that so...?"

"Then, why didn't you try me?" Mitsuhiko quickly asked.

"Or me," Genta added.

The girl gave the bespectacled boy a curious glance, not failing to notice the way his expression morphed the moment Ayumi's eyes left him, or the way he seemed to exhaled, as if exhausted, shoulders slumping slightly. He didn't seem to notice the shift himself, though.

"Because this is a _love _fortune-telling," Ayumi's grin widened. "You guys don't have a girlfriend."

At the sight of the two children deflating, Conan couldn't help but laugh a tiny bit, before turning to glance at Ayumi, who was blinking cluelessly at their attitude. _Have some mercy, Ayumi-chan._

"Nevermind, what does 'A' mean?" she asked. "Do you know, Conan-kun?"

"Hmm..." Conan's eyes narrowed, caressing his chin with his finger as he thought. "If it is the letter 'A'... The first thing that comes to my mind is the word 'Ace' from the cards, or even 'first', but..."

_It doesn't make any sense._

At his side, Haibara chuckled lightly. This caused his eyebrow to twitch, irritably, completely ignoring the other two struggling to come up with the meaning of it.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "I just find quite intriguing that you can solve multiple locked-room murders so easily yet struggle with the meaning of word that came from a girls' cheap game."

"Well, excuse me for not being a _girl,_" he groaned, watching Agasa excitedly telling his friends that they should get going, followed by a cheer for the three children, before they followed suit. The two of them did the same, only a certain distance away. "By the way, did you know? You aren't supposed to be working so late. Especially when you have just recovered from the wounds Gin inflicted you the other time."

"I know that," the little scientist didn't even bat an eye.

Conan didn't say anything else, knowing he couldn't really tell her not to work as hard when her own life also went with it. But at the same time, he felt this was a bit of his fault. Ever since he had told her that his brother's life was in danger, she had began to work even harder than before. He couldn't help but think that his words had some sort of impact in her.

He still couldn't get around the fact that it had worked.

"So, any other question?"

Conan hummed, crossing his arms behind his head. "Well, yeah. Just something I'm curious about," his mouth curved into a teasing smile. "How come that such a mature and overly clever girl, that was intelligent enough to develop that mysterious drug, had a babysitter?"

She gave him a slight glare. "Caretaker, not babysitter," the girl corrected with a groan and he couldn't help but let his grin grow even wider. "I had several, in fact. I was told that they were there to take care of me and raise me because of my short age, but in reality I think they were there just to monitor me. They would take shifts to stay with me so I would never be alone."

"So you wouldn't escape," his eyes narrowed, his smile long gone after receiving that information. "It must have been really annoying."

"Well," a small smile blossomed on her face. "Not all of them were _that _bad."

Blinking, confusedly, Conan stopped. He stared at her back while she continued walking, not bothering to wait for him, as he let the words sink in.

"... What?"

The girl did not even pause, causing Conan to let out a low groan, frustrated over the fact he was, once again, unable to understand what was going through the young scientist's mind, before starting to walk as well.

Soon the group arrived to Touto Aeronautic Memorial Museum, and it didn't take them long to realize that the long wait had been worth it. It impressed the three children greatly, grinning widely as they took in every single cool plane they saw and were allowed to walk into.

Conan was enjoying it as well, but he wasn't that amazed since he _had _already visited the place not that long ago. In fact, it had happened the second month upon arriving in Beika. His brother had taken him, out the blue, one day after school.

His gaze focused on the pamphlet they had given them at the entrance and he couldn't help the nostalgic smile crossing his face when his eyes fell on a certain section.

"_The helicopter pilot simulator?" Conan's eyebrow raised at that._

"_Yeah, doesn't that sound cool?" Shinichi's grin widened, if possible, causing the child to give him a blank look. "Hey, you could, at least, pretend to be a bit excited, you know."_

"_I would have, probably, if I were illiterate," he pointed to a certain section on the pamphlet. "It clearly says here that the helicopter simulator is only for fifth graders and up."_

"_Ah, so that's your problem?" he took the little one's hand and started dragging him forward. "It's okay, it's okay. Nobody is watching anyway."_

"_... Eh...? H-Hey, wait!"_

_Indeed, they did it. At first Conan hesitated as he was ushered to sit inside, and he really had his doubts when he rested his hands on the controls. But, eventually, as Shinichi patiently explained how to pilot the virtual helicopter, he began to loosen up. He was getting the hang of it pretty quickly._

_When the helicopter suddenly shifted due to a turbulence, Conan let out a startled laugh._

_Seeing the child having fun, smiling like he hadn't seen him in a long while, made everything worth for Shinichi. So he laughed, rather loudly, as well._

Upon remembering Shinichi's good-hearted laughter, his own smile faltered. At that time, Conan hadn't been aware of what he knew now. He had absolutely no idea about his brother's true identity.

His grip against the phampelet tightened, crumpling it a tiny bit, but he couldn't bring himself to care. _Was it... _the ghost of the smile from before was still there, yet it only made him look more miserable. _Was all of it... Every single little thing... just big, elaborated lie?_

"Hey, hey," Genta's loud voice brought him out his thoughts. "Isn't that Shishido Eimei?"

A man, who was definitely Shishido Eimei, turned around after hearing his name, smiling. He pointed at them with his camera, took a few photos, then grinned while waving his back.

"He's so cool!" Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi commented.

"He's so rude," Haibara pointed out, annoyed, as she walked away from the spot behind Agasa ─ after perfectly playing the role of the shy little girl that was scared from the camera. "I don't remember ever saying that it was okay to take a photo of us."

Conan couldn't help but agree.

That afternoon, Conan came back home just to see Kogoro putting on his necktie, still on his underwear, and Ran holding his coat for him. At the sight of it, the child blinked.

"Weren't we supposed to have dinner with your mother today?" he asked the girl, who nodded. "Then, why is Kogoro-ojisan...?"

An annoyed expression took hold of her face. "He went out to play mahjong around lunchtime," she huffed. "He just got home."

Kogoro groaned, mumbling something along the lines of '_why do I have to meet with that woman', _but the kid paid no mind. That was because of the reporter speaking behind the TV that was left turned on, forgotten by both daughter and father. They were interviewing a man called Asahi Katsuyoshi, owner of the entertainment complex Aquacrystal which was set to open soon.

When the TV suddenly went black. He spun around, in surprise, before noticing the stern look Ran was giving his way, causing him to finally realize he was supposed to get ready as well. "I'm going!" he exclaimed, rushing towards the room he shared with Kogoro.

As soon as he got there, he opened the wardrobe and started searching for something nice to put on. _Now, now, _he sighed, as he kept on looking. He didn't have time for this, and he had to hurry, unless he wanted to be a target for Ran's wrath. _Where did I leave shirt?_

Moving a coat around, something else appeared in front of him. Peeking from behind the clothes was a small blue box he barely remembered putting in there. One look to the note that was stuck on top of it and his shoulders dropped, memories instantly returning to his mind.

"_Happy Birthday, Conan!"_

His handwriting, rushed yet clear all the same, was unmistakable.

So was his voice, stuck on the little one's head, repeating the same words over and over again:

"_... and I would make them disappear."_

A frown made its appearance on his features and he glared down at the innocent gift, as if it was the source of all that anger he had inside him, before he set it away.

He couldn't bear to look at it any longer.

* * *

Of course, they didn't get to the restaurant on time.

Right after arriving at the French Restaurant '_La Fleur' _they opened the door to find the woman waiting for them, sitting cross legged on the couch in the waiting room.

"Sorry we're late, Mom," Ran rushed ahead to meet her.

"That's okay," Eri smiled. "I'm sure someone was playing mahjong until late anyway."

Kogoro grunted at that, looking away with a very annoyed expression on his face. Ran just blinked, surprised, while Conan let out a chuckle, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Wow, you are sharp, Obasan!" he then turned to the man. "Now I see why you two are married."

"That better not be sarcasm, brat," Kogoro glared.

The daughter couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh, while her mother giggled under her hand. With a smile still on her face, she leaned towards the child.

"Good evening, Conan-kun," she smiled. "Look at you, you have gotten so big."

"G-Good evening," he replied, unsure of what he was supposed to answer to that.

To be fair, he didn't even remember her at all, so he must have been _really _small last time they saw each other.

Just as he was saying that, a man entered the restaurant together with two other women. Kogoro recognized him as Hiroki Tsuji, an acquaintance of his that happened to be a professional golfer. So, the detective introduced the three of them to him.

Conan swore he would take revenge when he was introduced as '_the freeloader Conan'._

Turned out Tsuji also had his own helicopter which he piloted. He even invited them to fly that Sunday. Everyone was beyond overjoyed at the prospect, until Kogoro declined due to his fear of heights.

_Geez, how boring, _Conan groaned.

Dinner went great after that.

Sawaki Kohei, a sommelier that had known Kogoro and Eri since they were young, received them and set a wine over the table. At that moment, Ran had started to cheerfully talk about the temperature wines should be served, then claiming that she had read all of it in Nishina Minoru's book.

Some time later, Conan and Ran grinned at each other, noticing the two adults were talking and laughing with each other, in a good mood, while remembering the last time they went to that restaurant fifteen years ago. Apparently, Kogoro had given Eri some Zigoba chocolates that she loved so much.

But, of course, he had to ruin it. From the window, he saw Okano Towako, mistress of a club he frequently went to, with the newscaster Peter Ford. Kogoro got jealous and got Eri mad, in turn.

Then she left, without even having dessert.

* * *

It had been a week ever since.

Inspector Megure had been shot with an arrow. Kogoro had gotten the news right when they were on their way to go hiking with Conan's friends ─ except for Haibara, who had declined in order to have some work done on the antidote.

Only when Genta mistakenly read the name on his hospital room as 'Megure Jusan' did Conan realize he had never gotten to hear the inspector's first name. _So his name is Megure Juzo, huh?_

Luckily Megure turned out to be okay, they were told so by Shiratori once they all arrived. Even so, Conan found it weird they would just randomly shoot a police officer.

"Hey, Inspector," Genta inquired. "You had your gun, right?"

"And they still got away?" Ayumi asked, not getting her head around the fact.

"Why would he have his gun while he was jogging?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow.

"Besides, even if I had it on me, my skill isn't as good as Mouri-kun's over there," Megure pointed out.

"Eh?" Ran blinked. "Dad is good with a gun?"

"I guess everyone has a virtue here and there," Conan sarcastically pointed out.

"What was that about?" the detective glared.

Kogoro's attention was brought away from him, however, when Shiratori continued explaining the case to him. He told them that they had found something odd in the place the crossbow had been fired from.

Conan contemplated the sword figure, wondering where he had seen such a thing before.

Soon however, the group left Megure to rest, after being assured that the inspector would be just fine. It was quiet, however, as both Kogoro and Conan seemed to be in deep thought, wondering what that piece of evidence could mean.

Ran gave her phone a long look, frowning slightly. _Shinichi might know something..._

But then decided against it. That idiot hadn't called ever since they have last seen each other. She definitely didn't want to talk to him now.

... Really, she didn't.

"Maybe it's for the best," Conan's quiet voice came from her left, noticing the way she was looking at her phone. "It's probably better to leave him alone."

Conan offered her a strained smile, before he walked a bit faster to catch up with his friends. It left Ran extremely confused as to why he was suddenly talking that way about his brother.

At least until they got home.

The answer lied on her feet. There, small and alone inside her father's trash bin was the same blue box she had seen Conan find on their doorstep more than two weeks ago. Gingerly picking it up she noticed the note stuck on it, and her suspicions were confirmed.

That was Shinichi's birthday gift for Conan.

Which the little boy had apparently decided to throw away.

_Did those two... get into a fight? _she wondered, frowning slightly, as she stared at the unwanted gift on her hands.

_Why doesn't Shinichi say anything? Why isn't he answering my calls?_

Before she could ask anything about it, she received a call that made her heart skip a beat.

Her mother had been poisoned.

Luckily, her stomach had been cleaned right away, thus saving her from death. The fact that she had been poisoned, however, was something that still greatly concerned everyone.

The criminal had sent her a box of Zigoba, the chocolates she loved and that Kogoro had given her on the first date. At this point, it was evident that the lawyer had carelessly eaten thinking that her husband had sent her to make amends.

There was also a paper flower that Conan was absolutely sure he had seen before.

* * *

When Conan declined his friends' offer to play some soccer after class in the park, just so he could head home earlier, they hadn't argued.

None of them had failed to notice that something about Conan was off, even if they hadn't yet realized what it was. He had been acting the same way as always. He would still ace every single test in the wink of an eye yet look incredibly bored at the same time. The sarcastic comments that would often roll off his mouth hadn't stopped, and he still would laugh whenever he found something funny.

Yet, every once in a while, they would notice. Whenever he thought nobody was looking, his gaze would stray away, losing himself inside his many, many thoughts. At time like these, his eyes would show other feelings in a way they would never do otherwise.

This had been going on for almost a month.

So, as they watched the boy slowly walking away, the three children looked at each other and nodded. Then, in perfect synchrony, they turned around to face their other friend.

Haibara sighed.

Not long thereafter, the door to the agency opened and a little boy walked in. "I'm home," he called, only receiving a mumble from the man on the desk, far too focused on the papers in his hands.

Partly it amazed Conan to see Kogoro working this hard, but then he realized it might been because of his wife. _Stupid, _he shook his head, amused at the thought that he still denied he loved Eri, despite _this_.

"Welcome home, Conan-kun," Ran smiled, appearing from the doorway. He smiled at her back, before turning to go to his room, when the girl stopped him. "Do you have a minute? There's something I want to talk to you about."

Not only Conan seemed to be curious about that, since Kogoro also seemed to raise his head. Seeing that she had the boy's attention, she showed him something she had hidden behind her back.

At the sight of the blue gift on her hands, Conan sighed loudly. _Should have thrown it somewhere else, _he realized. Yet, to be fair, he wasn't really thinking clearly through the anger.

Noticing his evident discomfort, Ran's gaze softened. "Did you two have a fight?" she asked, gently, slowly moving closer to him. "Or is it there something else bothering you?"

At the lack of response, Kogoro could only blink even more. What was she even talking about?

"If there's something you want to-"

"Nothing is wrong," he replied, maybe a tad too fast for it to be believable. "It's just that... Shinichi-niichan and I are not in talking terms at the moment," he admitted, inching closer to the door. "But it's okay, really."

"Conan-kun!" Ran's eyebrows were brought together, in concern. "How can that be oka-?"

"I'm going to the Professor's!" he said suddenly, forcing a smile on his face that did not convince anyone. "I left a book there the other day and I want it back."

Kogoro stood up, a frown carved on his features. "Hey, brat!" he called.

But the door closed before any of them could do anything.

Like so, father and daughter exchanged a look before the former, after sighing, sat back on his desk to continue doing his work. Ran just gazed again at the gift, her eyes adopting a slightly sadder glimmer, before silently retreating to her room.

And the boy just skateboarded to Agasa's home, his smile having dropped seconds after leaving the agency. _It's okay, _he repeated on his mind, over and over. _A person like that... It's better to stay away, _his little fists clenched. _Because that's not the person I have known all my life. That's not my brother..._

Overtaken by those negative thoughts that would cause his heart to ache, he closed his eyes tightly shut.

Shinichi's grinning face flashed behind his eyelids.

_... Is he?_

"Conan?" before he realized it, he had arrived at his destination. He looked up to see Agasa's confused face. "What are you doing here?"

He hesitated for a second, realizing he didn't really have a excuse to be there, until he glanced at the skateboard under his arm.

"I think there's something wrong with this," he offered the gadget to its inventor. "It doesn't seem to be as fast as it was before."

Agasa hummed for a moment. "I'll see what I can do," he said and left to check it out. Conan watched him go, before stumbling to the couch and dropping on it, letting his bag slip from his shoulders to the ground.

Sighing, completely exhausted and drained, the boy brought one of his arms on top of his eyes, taking his time to enjoy the quietness of the room. He stayed there, for god knows how long, hoping that his thoughts would just put themselves in order.

Quite honestly, he didn't really want to deal with his own feelings anymore.

"So, you ran away?"

The female voice prompted the boy to jump out of his skin, instantly sitting up to see Haibara standing right in front of him, a plain look plastered on her face. She still was carrying her bag pack, so he figured she must have just gotten home.

"Care to explain what you mean with that or will you just leave it as one of your many enigmatic comments of yours?" Conan raised an eyebrow.

"You said you were going home, yet you are here. And _that _is there, too," she motioned at his bag. "Besides, you're sighing like-"

"Okay, I get it," Conan huffed, before letting out a weak chuckle. "I confess, I'm the criminal. Take me to jail right now, Detective Haibara."

"Now I see why you do this all the time. It's quite fun."

As the girl went to put her things away, the boy rolled his eyes and gathered the bag from the floor, in an attempt to distract himself with something, and went to pick up his mystery book. His fingers, however, grasped something entirely different. Pulling his hand out, he realized right away that they were the photos he had stolen from Kogoro's desk the other day.

His eyes focused on the knife and the flower that had been found. He still couldn't tell where they had come from.

"You know is not healthy," Haibara continued once she returned. "Yet you keep doing it."

Conan looked away from the photographs and back at her. "What do you mean?" he questioned, genuinely confused.

"That you keep running away from your own feelings."

His eyes widened for a moment, before he looked away with a scoff. He was about to point out the ridiculousness of her statement just now, when they heard the door window suddenly shattering.

"What's that?!" Agasa suddenly appeared in the living room, Conan's skateboard still on his hands.

The three of them rushed to the door, just to see a rock lying on the entrance, surrounded by several glass shards. Naturally, Agasa grew mad and stomped towards it, hand reaching for the knob.

There was a man in a bike, parked just in front of the house. Conan felt his blood run cold when he saw him pointing what it seemed to be a crossbow towards the way they stood.

"Professor!" he screamed. "Don't open it!"

But he did, and then turned around to give the child a confused look.

Before an arrow was shot to his back. Both children panicked, seeing him falling suddenly, and rushed towards the old man.

The attacker began to drive away.

"Haibara-san!" Conan said, in a hurry, taking the skateboard that the professor had dropped when he had been attacked. "I leave the Professor to you!"

"Eh?! Wait!"

The boy was gone in a flash, chasing after the attacker on his skateboard. Determined not to let him go.

He lost him at some point, however.

When he returned to Agasa's home, the child noticed something lying on the grass. Picking it up and looking at it from close, he finally recognized that sword-like object.

After giving Haibara a quick call, he headed towards the hospital where Agasa had been sent. Not without passing by a store and buying a deck of playing cards.

* * *

Kogoro blinked, cluelessly, at the card in he held between his fingers.

He had just arrived a few seconds ago, and he hadn't even put a foot inside the room before a card had been shoved at his face. He had blinked down at the boy's serious face, and swiftly glanced at the two cards on his little hands, before looking back at his.

He raised an eyebrow, wondering what was so special with the Queen of Hearts.

The child then held the King of Spades, before letting them see the photo of the spade that had been found on scene behind it. "Inspector Megure's name is Juzo, right?" he simply pointed out. "Just like you would write '_thirteen', _right? Like the King of Spades."

Then, Kogoro's eyes opened widely, before focusing on the card on his hands. "Wait, this flower...!"

Conan nodded. "Yeah, just like the one that Eri-obasan had received," he explained. "Since her maiden name is Kisaki, which happens to mean '_queen' _in English. In other words..."

"The Queen of Hearts," Kogoro frowned at the card, before turning to the child. "Then, the Professor..."

"The Jack of Spades," Haibara's calm voice sounded from the other side of the room, eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of the plastic bag with the evidence found in Agasa's yard a few hours ago. "That sword-like object alludes to the knight, right?"

"Exactly," Conan nodded at her, before glancing at the professor. "The Professor's name is Agasa Hiroshi. The character for '_shi' _is a combination of ten and one. Therefore, eleven."

"So...the culprit is trying to kill thirteen people, whose numbers correspond to one to thirteen in the descending sequence of the cards?"

"That's right... Thirteen people," Conan's eyes took a solemn glint as he looked at the older man. "All related to you."

Every single person in the room looked at the child, shocked, realizing that he was actually right. Then, Kogoro began to wonder if there was a person that had such a grudge against him to try and kill all those people.

Just then, Megure came in and, after assuring everyone that he would be okay as long as his stitches remained on place, told them that he suspected that a person called Murakami Jo, a lone-wolf card dealer, was the culprit. Apparently he had committed murder ten years ago and had just been released on parole last week. Kogoro wasn't even surprised to hear that Murakami could have a grudge against him ─ as it turned out, he had been the one to arrest him.

"No way!" Ran's eyes widened. "Isn't given that a police detective's job is to arrest suspects?"

Conan did not miss the way Kogoro shifted, uncomfortably. Or the way Shiratori wanted to say something more about what had happened between them, just to be stopped by Megure, for some reason.

An uncomfortable silence settled in.

"So, who is next?" Haibara's voice broke it, instantly, turning to face Kogoro. "There must be someone you know with the number ten in their name."

Kogoro closed his eyes, in deep thought. "Ten, huh? Ten..." he mumbled, before gasping. "Towako-san!"

Of course. Since '_to' _meant '_ten' _in English.

Like so, they all decided to go to her club to check on her. Just as she was going through the door however, Ran turned around, and smiled to the little girl, who still sat in a chair beside Agasa's bed and kindly offered her to stay the night with them.

Her emotionless expression did not change even after the offer, and she didn't even try to answer. At that, Conan could only let out a dry laugh.

"It's okay, Ran-kun," Agasa replied, a nervous smile on his face. "Ai-kun is a bit too shy to stay in someone else's home."

_Shy? _Conan's lip twitched upwards. _Are we talking about the same girl?_

Haibara noticed his look and turned her head away, avoiding his gaze.

"But..." Ran tried.

"Don't worry. I'll try to talk to the staff so she can stay at my room here."

Ran hesitated, before sighing and finally leaving. The little boy gave the silent girl a last, curious, glance before shrugging and continuing their way to the car.

Towako turned out to be just fine, but Megure and Kogoro decided to stay the night just in case something happened to her. Like so, Shiratori was appointed to take the other two home. On their way and finally alone, Ran decided to finally ask what Shiratori had wanted to say before.

His answer caused her blood to freeze.

Ten years ago, while Murakami had been interrogated, little Ran and her mother had come by to give Kogoro a change of clothes, when the criminal tried to escape and held Eri as a hostage.

Kogoro had shot his wife in the leg, even if the bullet had only grazed her.

"Now I remember," Ran's eyes were wide as two plates. "I'd forgotten all about it until now."

"It was something you didn't want to remember, Ran-san," Shiratori explained.

Conan didn't say anything, just took a long look at the girl's distressed face. _Something she didn't want to remember, huh? _he contemplated her, for a few moments, before looking outside the window. _A memory so painful and sad that Ran-neechan can not bear to remember any longer..._

Shiratori and Ran continued talking about the case, yet the little boy could not bring himself to pay attention. There was something bothering him. Bugging him at the back of his mind, yet he couldn't hope to grasp it.

It would just go away, just like that.

With a heavy sigh, he leaned his head against the window.

_But to think that Occhan actually shoot Eri-obasan when they were together, _his eyes closed, deep in thought. _What could he been thinking about?_

_To point a gun towards someone you love and greatly care about..._

The muzzle he would see in his dreams from time to time flashed behind his eyelids.

_Someone... Someone so important in your life..._

Then, he saw the blood again...

_So important that you..._

... And those icy blue eyes.

Conan shook his head, eyes snapping open, doing his best to concentrate on the people strolling in the sidewalk in the middle of the darkened night. Anything to keep his mind away from those terrifying memories.

Yet, he was unsuccessful.

_Come to think of it... His name has the kanji for 'one', doesn't it?_

So he pulled out his phone from his pocket.

He stared at it for a moment, hesitation filling his features before he frowned, flipping the device open.

"_There's someone out there targeting people that Occhan knows, whose names correspond to a number. So far he has attacked number thirteen, twelve and eleven._

_Your name has the number 'one' in it. Just figured you should know so you could watch your back."_

Kogoro never returned home that night. As a result, Conan woke up the next morning to the sight of the bed next to him completely empty, devoid of any trace of the drunken detective that would usually be snoring away on top of it.

Like that, Conan got up. Getting himself ready, remaining caught in his own thoughts as he did.

He had been up until late last night thinking about the suspect, Murakami, wondering about his true objectives. Was he really only trying to get revenge against Kogoro or...?

Besides, there was also the fact that he had been in prison until lately, which was weird considering that he had found out about Kogoro's acquaintances _and _Eri's favourite brand of chocolate.

Just as he was thinking about it, his eyes fell on a picture frame of the professional golfer that also owned an helicopter they had seen before. He could easily read his signature written all over the photograph.

"_Tsuji Hiroki"_

_Tsuji Hiroki... Tsuji... _his eyes opened when he realized that there was a radical of ten within the character. _Ten!_

"Ran-neechan!" he took off running towards her room, startling the girl so badly that she thought she would have a heart attack. "Hiroki-san! It's Tsuji Hiroki-san!"

Once he managed to get the message across, Ran instantly rushed towards the phone to call to Tsuji's house only to get told that he had left for the heliport thirty minutes ago. So, he called her Inspector Megure next.

When she turned to him and told him that they should go too, completely forgetting that they both had school today, Conan couldn't help but blink, cluelessly.

Soon, the taxi pulled up in the heliport and the two got out, rushing to where the three men stood, right in front of Hiroki. When Kogoro noticed them getting closer, he shouted at them.

"Hey, you guys! What do you think you're doing here?!"

"What do you mean?!" Ran argued. "We're also involved. I'm your _daughter _after all!"

Mouri was left speechless at that while Conan could only stare, a bit confused, wondering what had gotten into her so that she wanted to be so involved in an investigation, this badly.

Meanwhile, Megure tried to convince Hiroki not taking that flight today. But he just smirked, certain that everything was just going to be okay.

"If it worries you so much, why don't you and Mouri-san join me?" he offered.

"Ah well, things that fly..." Kogoro tried to refuse.

Despite all of that, Megure dragged the reluctant and screaming detective inside the helicopter and Ran was forced to see them fly away. Sighing at the thought of being left behind when she so desperately wanted answers she turned to talk to the little boy.

"Conan-kun, we should also..." she trailed off, suddenly realizing she was all alone.

Her gaze went to the helicopter flying away, getting smaller and smaller in the sky.

"It can't be...!"

* * *

The helicopter was flying through the sky, rising above the buildings and getting far and far away from the ground. At this point Mouri, pale faced and downright terrified, closed his eyes shut.

"One sheep, two sheep..." he began chanting.

"Is that a chant to keep you from falling?" an innocent voice said suddenly. "Or is it to make you fall asleep instead?"

To their surprise, Conan was childishly smiling at them while sitting in the seat beside the pilot. They both panicked and shouted to him, but he shrugged while exchanging a mischievous smile with Hiroki.

"It can't be helped," Megure sighed. "It's not like we can turn back."

"But if you even make a noise, I'm throwing you out!" Kogoro yelled.

"Sure you don't mean '_throwing up'_?"

"Eh, what are you-?"

Mouri's sentence was cut short by a scream tearing away from his throat, as he felt his world tilting all of sudden, so violently that he genuinely thought his heart would explode. Once the helicopter was stabilized, he collapsed into a heap against his seat, exhausted.

Before his hand went to his mouth, so suddenly that caused the inspector beside him to try to inch away from him, scared of what might happen.

Tsuji gave the little boy a thumbs up causing him to grin, widely. _I'm really starting to like this guy._

Silence settled between the four in there, so Conan took the opportunity to look around the helicopter. Yet, he didn't find anything suspicious. Everything was perfectly okay, which was honestly weird.

At least, until Hiroki gave out a cry of pain, quickly covering his eyes with his hand. He couldn't open his eyes. They were _burning._

Just as the helicopter began to fall down, Conan was suddenly reminded of the eye drops he had seen him putting on earlier.

"Tsuji-san, we're drifting to the left!" the child shouted.

Hiroki blindly tried to fix it, and narrowly avoided crashing against a nearby building. Still, his sight was not improving, and Conan soon realized they just couldn't continue flying like this.

In the distance, he could see Teitan Elementary School.

Without thinking about it twice he unbuckled himself and slid into the pilot's seat. Hiroki violently flinched when a pair of small hands took the control away from his grasp. "We'll try to land at the school ground!" he informed. "So, Tsuji-san, you watch the pedals and the collective."

"You idiot!" Kogoro panicked. "Cut that out! Are you trying to kill us?!"

"We _are _going to die if we don't do anything. Tsuji-san is in no condition to fly," the child replied, with a serious expression. It didn't seem to comfort either Megure or Kogoro, though. "And considering none of you have any experience in this, I believe I'm the most capable."

"Eh?" Megure and Kogoro blinked.

"Tsuji-san!" he ignored them so he could focus in the matter on hand. "If we keep this up, we'll crash. Help me!"

Hesitantly, Tsuji nodded, probably seeing no other way out. So, Conan's eyes narrowed and decided he was really going to do this. _This wouldn't be the craziest thing I've even done in my life, though... I think._

With a frown, he forced himself to remember every single thing he had learn the several times his brother had sneaked him into the pilot simulation site.

"_First thing of all, Conan. Pay attention to your altitude and speed here," his brother explained, pointing at the different numbers on the control panel._

"Altitude 300 feet, speed 40 knots," he spoke to him, trying to show as much confidence on his voice as he could. "I'm ready."

Like so, Hiroki pulled the lever down. The helicopter started to go down, and the two men in the backseat began to sweat profusely.

So did Conan's hands. "Altitude 200 feet, speed 30 knots," but he managed to collect himself. He could see the school yard getting closer and closer.

"_Now that you have spotted the right place to land, start descending. Slowly."_

"10 degrees on the right pedal, please."

"_Make sure to keep yourself from drifting. Go straight. Constantly check how far you are from your landing point."_

"We're going straight in the schoolyard. Distance 500 meters."

Without taking his eyes out of the place he was going to, he pulled out his badge, quickly telling his friends to evacuate every single soul in the school yard, because he was doing an emergency landing of a helicopter.

It took a second for the information to be processed, but soon he heard his friends screaming. "Everyone, run!" that was Genta's voice. "A helicopter is crashing down!"

_Thanks for believing in me that much, Genta._

Putting his badge away, his eyes narrowed. There was absolutely no way he was going to let that happen.

But it seemed as if the helicopter had other ideas, as it started rotating left. "Press the right pedal harder!" he shouted, his grip still firm around the control.

They hit a downdraft, causing the helicopter to crash when it was so close to touching the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't as serious as it could have been.

The four passengers managed to get out of it, unharmed. Even if they had to run away right after they had stood in ground upon noticing the tank leaking. They survived the explosion that followed as well.

Conan sighed, exhausted, watching the flames dancing in front of his eyes. _That was so close, _he decided, looking around. _At least those guys managed to get everyone away and nobody was harmed..._

Then, his eyes met with three pairs of surprised and equally terrified gazes, and one of resignation, as its owner shook her head with a light smirk on her face.

The little boy offered his friends a sheepish grin and a wave.

And the three ran straight to him, Haibara following in a calmer pace.

* * *

A/N:

Dy: Gin doesn't know yet, because she was covering her hair with a hoodie. And, yeah, I'm definitely writing that episode in the future. There are a few other chapters I want to cover before that, though...

ajjr12: Honestly, I don't know XD Sounds like a could idea, so I guess it could happen in the future.


	35. The Ace of Spades

**File Thirty-Five: The Ace of Spades**

"Do you want to talk about it, Conan-kun?"

More confused than ever, the young boy's gaze shifted from the remains of the helicopter that he had just been in to the girl's wide, expressive eyes. "What do you mean, Ayumi-chan?" he questioned, feeling genuinely lost.

He could see that Ayumi was concerned. She had looked that way ever since her eyes had fallen on him. At first, he thought it was understandable ─ he had just crashed a helicopter in the middle of their school yard ─ but then she had said that, and he couldn't really comprehend what it had to do with anything.

None of the adults had seemed to notice the way the children had surrounded Conan, too busy with tending to Tsuji Hiroki or calling the ambulance for him, since that at the moment they didn't have any idea of what had actually happened to him.

"Shinichi-oniisan," he couldn't help but wince at his name. "Haibara-san told us about... Well, everything."

Conan turned to give Haibara a light glare, but she didn't seem to be fazed at all. The girl just stared back, calmly. Which definitely wasn't the case of the other two boys.

"What are you doing, Ayumi-chan?!" Mitsuhiko panicked.

"Weren't we supposed to-?" Genta tried to add.

"It's just...!" Ayumi cut her friend off, suddenly, before she trailed off into silence. Her gaze fell on the ground for a second, clenching her hand against her chest. "It's just... We can't just pretend that never happened. We can't just keep it quiet," then, she looked back at her friends. "... Not when Conan-kun has suffered in silence for so long. It's not right!"

The boys paused, taken aback by her words, before fixing their gazes on their feet at the realization of her friend being actually right. The girl, content for being understood by her two friends, turned back to the bespectacled boy who just stared, wide eyed.

Before he blushed lightly at the attention he was receiving from all his friends.

"It's okay, guys," he tried to brush them off.

"How can you be okay with your brother being this 'Singani' guy?" Genta protested.

"Genta-kun! Don't be so insensitive!"

"But-!"

Conan shrugged. "I don't mind, besides," he let out a resigned smile. "He's actually right, you know. I'm..." the boy sighed. "I'm actually... _not _okay."

None of their friends said anything about that, just watched Conan shift, uncomfortably, while tilting his head up to gaze into the sky. The same one he had just been flying on before crashing down into the ground. _Crashing down like the truth falling on me, huh? _he would have laughed at the irony, but only managed a faint smile.

"You know, I kind of admired him," he confessed, smile still on place even if it did not match with the sourness of his voice. "Ever since I can remember, I had actually looked up to him. He was smart, kind, and honestly? The greatest detective I've ever met. I really, really wanted to be just like him when I grew older. But..."

He trailed off into silence, his lips now pressing together in a thin line, struggling to keep his smile in place yet only managing a grimace instead.

"But...?" Ayumi gently tried to get him to talk.

"... I was kidnapped," he admitted. "The next moment, I was suddenly away from this country and living in America, and we became distant. Then, I saw him again, moved with him, and weird things started happening. My brother started acting... different. And I tried. I _really _tried to believe in him. I wanted to believe that he was still... himself_._"

Judging by the way the three Detective Boys opened their eyes, widely, Conan could tell they were surprised to hear about his kidnapping. Haibara's face remained still throughout it all, on the other hand.

The boy's eyes closed, tightly, fists clenching.

"He lied. He lied to me, to Ran-neechan, to everyone... He did... He did all those terrible things... And so many more that I know nothing about," he then added, his voice soft and in the verge of breaking. "And I can't help but... I can't help but hate him for all that."

Haibara's eyes narrowed his confession, but said nothing about it. With that, an uncomfortable silence settled in within the group of young children, only broken by the loud sounds of the ambulance a few blocks away, finally arriving at the school.

"You hate him for lying to you?" Genta blinked, not completely getting it. "Isn't that weird coming from you?"

"Huh?" Conan blinked at him.

"Because you lie to us all the time!"

"Genta-kun!" Ayumi tried to scold him. "Be a bit nicer."

"Even that time at the cave," Mitsuhiko seemed to ponder. "I genuinely thought he was trying to make us hate him..."

Blue eyes widened, slightly, behind thick glasses, before they shifted towards the ambulance finally pulling up in front of them. The other children seemed to remain unaware of it, however, far too immersed in their own conversation to pay attention to something else.

"Mitsuhiko-kun!" the girl exclaimed.

"A-Ah," he suddenly realized his mistake. "... Sorry."

"Geez, guys..."

Conan couldn't help but chuckle at them, and was about to say something when Kogoro's loud voice called for him. Looking up and seeing the paramedics surrounding him, the child figured he might have to go through a checkup since he had been in the accident as well.

So, he briefly waved at his friends, before starting to head towards the place where the older detective was. As he passed by Haibara, however, he paused.

"Do you hate him, though?" he heard her whisper at him. "Or do you _want _to hate him?"

She didn't get a reply, because Conan didn't have one to give her.

* * *

At first, Kogoro had no idea about who the ninth target could be, but upon arriving at Sawaki Kohei's house ─ who they thought as the eighth possible victim ─ and learning that he had been put in charge at Asahi Katsuyoshi's brand new restaurant, a part of his Aquacrystal project, they had all realized, with a shudder, that the name '_Asahi' _had a nine on it. Even if Kogoro had only met him once for a case of a missing cat.

Like so, they decided to come along.

The guy definitely had money, Conan couldn't help but think, as they all stared, in shock, at the very flashy and expensive-looking building in front of them.

Not that he had much time to ponder about it, because the entire group had to move to avoid being rolled over a red BMW ─ and certainly _not _cheap ─ car. Osanai Nana stepped out of it ─ Conan could recognize her as a famous model.

She wasn't the only famous person to arrive, however. Soon, other familiar faces stepped out of their respective expensives cars. They were Shishido Eimei, Nishina Minoru and Peter Ford and, apparently, they had all been invited by Asahi to that place.

_Wait a second, _realization suddenly dawned on the young detective's mind, as they headed towards the monorail. _These four people right here..._

Conan frowned, as he stepped inside, ignoring as the people around him commented that there was no driver, or that Ran had found a button with the label '_start' _on it.

_Number three and one are the only ones left, _he glanced at Shiratori. _I don't know Inspector Shiratori's first name, but if it happens to be something related to 'three'..._

Ran pushed the button.

_Then, all it's left is the number one. The only one I can think about is that person, _as the door behind him started to close, the child couldn't help but chuckle a bit. _There's no way. The same happened with Towako-san. Just because he has that name..._

"Watch out!"

Next thing he knew, Conan was jumping back as a figure quickly crossed the door before it could close. Blinking confusedly, the child stared at the slightly tanned teenager. Vibrant blue eyes and long blonde hair, he noticed.

"Ah, I apologize!" he hurriedly said, briefly glancing at Conan, as the monorail started to move.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Kogoro asked, genuinely confused since they all were supposed to be famous people, but he had no clue of who this young man was.

"Nomura Seishi," the teen introduced himself. "I'm supposed to work as the head chef here so Asahi-san asked me to come so he could explain to me some details he wants me to work on."

"A chef, huh?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow. "You don't look like much to me."

"Hey, Mouri-kun!"

"Don't worry, it's okay," Nomura laughed, nervously. "I know I don't look like much, but I'm not afraid to say I'm pretty good at doing my job."

"Ah, is that so?" Conan grinned childishly at him. "Would you cook something for me sometime?"

He didn't miss the way the chef flinched. "Sure," yet, he managed to maintain his smile upright.

Soon the attention drifted away from him and towards the amazing sight of the water beneath them. Except for Ran, who was gazing at her father, a light frown of her face.

Before she glanced at Nomura from over her shoulder, who was staring at the distance with an unreadable look on his face. Her eyes narrowed slightly, yet didn't say anything about it.

Once outside the monorail they got into an elevator and went down, down and down.

The underwater restaurant screamed 'luxury', no matter where Conan looked. Fishes swam all around them, only being separated from the group by the thick crystal windows covering the walls. In the middle of the enormous room stood a red Ferrari, in all its glory, causing Nana to squeal over it.

Yet the host, Asahi, was nowhere to be found. Conan already feared the worst.

"Could it be that Murakami already...?" Shiratori voiced their concerns.

"Huh?" Shishido questioned. "What do you mean with that?"

"Ah, I have to explain the story to you," Megure nodded.

"Inspector, I'll go and look around," Shiratori informed.

"I'll go too," Kogoro said.

With that, the two men rushedly went out the room, while the other inspector turned to the guests, so he could inform them what was going on. Knowing everything that he was going to say, Ran turned to Conan to say something to him yet paused upon the realization that, unsurprisingly, the little boy was gone.

When she did that, however, she saw something entirely different. Silently, she noticed Nomura trying to slowly slip away unnoticed. "Nomura-san?" Ran called, prompting the boy to flinch, muscles freezing completely. "Where are you going?"

"U-Uh..." he laughed, nervously, before focusing on the red car in the center of the room. "I was kind of enchanted by that Ferrari and wanted to take a look."

Her eyes narrowed, slightly, for less than a moment. She let out a polite smile, however.

"Maybe you can check on it later," she commented. "This is pretty important, so you should listen."

"Y-Yes."

Not long after Megure had explained every single detail to the guests in the room, Conan returned along with the other two men, without any new information more than the wine cellar was, strangely, the only door around to be locked. Nobody saw anything else unusual, though.

"Hmm... That means I'm number six," commented Shishido, with a shrug. "There's a six in my name."

"In fact," every turned towards the child at the sound of his innocent voice. "There are more people who also have numbers in their names," at the confusion that had settled in the room, he explained. "Look, Nana-san is seven, and Nishina-san is two. Ford-san's name sounds like 'four' in English."

"I see," Kogoro, who had the number five in his name, mumbled, deep in thought. "So, if we have a three and a one, we have all the numbers."

"There's a three," Megure informed, glancing towards Shiratori.

To their surprise, his name was actually Ninzaburo, which happened to have the character for 'three' in it.

_Just as I expected, _Conan's eyes fell on the chef, eyebrows furrowed together as he watched him quietly, stroking his chin as he thought. _Then, all that there is left is..._

"But I guess there's no number one, though."

Nobody expected, however, to see Ran suddenly standing up. It was _that _unexpected that, for the longest time, the room was silent, blinking at the girl in confusion.

"There _is _a number one," when her fiery gaze rose to meet Nomura's eyes, causing the teenager to pale. It was as if he _knew _what was coming. "And he is..." she went around the table. "_... _right _here._"

Conan watched as the blood drained from the teenager's face the moment the girl stood in front of him. "Isn't that right..." then, her hand fell on his long hair.

And pulled.

"... Shinichi?!"

The wig was now on her hands, letting everyone see the face of the startled, and pretty much terrified, high school detective. As a result every single person on the room stared, wide eyed, as the boy tried to articulate, in vain.

Conan fists clenched a tiny bit inside his pockets.

"It's you!" Kogoro yelled, shocked at the revelation. "What are you doing here?!"

"Inspector Megure told me over the phone when I called him about an hour ago," he explained, taking out a napkin from his pocket to wipe out the make up he had applied on his face. "He told me about Asahi-san, so I decided to tag along."

"You did?!" the detective turned to Megure, who just offered him a nervous laugh, before turning back to the boy. "But how did you get here so fast?"

"I was around here already," he glanced at Conan, who simply chose to avoid his look. "I've gotten the word that I might be a target because of my name."

Conan wouldn't meet him in the eye, he realized. Which was, honestly, understandable considering everything that had happened last time they met. So, he didn't even try to get him to look at him, just sighed heavily, focusing back on Ran.

Who gave him a furious glare, before doing the same than the child. _Guess I should be glad she didn't choose to use her karate on me instead._

He wasn't so sure about that either, though.

Before he knew what was happening, Nana and Nishina were arguing about wine. Turned out, the author couldn't tell what wine she had brought with her as a gift. Kohei, the sommelier, could easily tell, however.

Ford then commented that he wanted to drink some wine, and Shishido some beer. As a result the latter, together with Nana, decided to go get some drinks at the kitchen. Conan tagged along, hoping that he could find some juice or something.

There was also the fact that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable with his brother around, but he wouldn't admit that.

Yet, Shinichi knew. That didn't mean he had the courage to say something about it, so he just watched Conan disappear from the room.

_Conan doesn't have a number on his name, _he thought. _He should be fine._

Glancing briefly at the girl sitting beside him, he came into another conclusion. _It's me who isn't going to be fine..._

Ran wasn't even looking at him, brows furrowed and her eyes staring at the spot right in front of her head, clearly avoiding to look at him. If that wasn't enough, the way her arms were crossed in front of her chest, tightly, also let him know how unwilling she was to have a conversation with him.

Briefly, he wondered if it would be better to leave her alone or try to say something.

"S-Say, Ran. How have you been?"

Of course, he had chosen the more stupid option. He realized that soon enough, right when she finally turned to face him, anger glimmering behind her eyes.

"How have I been? You are _asking _how have I been when I haven't heard a word from you in an entire month?!" she snapped, causing Shinichi to wince, violently, and the rest of the people in the room to stare at her, surprised.

She turned to glare to everyone that was looking at her. All gazes instantly drifted away from their conversation, letting Ran to sigh, tiredly.

"Your concern is showing a bit late, Shinichi."

"Sorry," he choked out. "I have been busy lately."

Ran just gave him the longest look and shrugged. As if she was about to complain about it any longer, but decided against it. She figured out this wouldn't change, no matter what she said.

"I heard you and Conan-kun got into a fight," the girl pointed out, causing Shinichi to stare into his hands, balled into fists while resting on the tablecloth. "What did you even argue about? Conan-kun is still angry with you."

Shinichi frowned a bit, and didn't speak for a second or two. "You wouldn't understand," he finally conceded her, which caused Ran to scoff at him, then turn her head to the wall, avoiding eye contact.

"Whatever," she huffed. "Just make sure to do something right for once and actually apologize to him," then paused, her angry expression dropping, overtaken by something akin to concern. "Conan-kun is hurting. I don't want to see him like that anymore."

His eyes closed. "I know that."

Before they snapped open upon the pain on his right arm. Startled by it, he looked down to see his one and only brother, painfully pressing a can of orange juice against him. There was a plain look on his face and his voice, laced with annoyance, simply said to him: "Here."

"A-Ah," he stuttered, clearly taken off guard. "Thanks, Con-"

Before he could complete his sentence, the child had turned around to face Ran, probably to offer her another of the two juice cans in his arms. "Thanks a lot," Kogoro's hands were faster, and they took them away from him.

"Huh?" the boy blinked. "Ojisan, you're not drinking beer?"

"Of course not. We can't predict when Murakami will attack," he replied, before offering one to Inspector Megure.

Conan sighed, feeling rather irritated by the older man, before going to the kitchen to get another two.

The child didn't expect, however, to see Sawaki tasting what it seemed to be chilli-powder, of all things, as soon as he entered the kitchen. He pretended not to notice a thing, and went to fetch what he had wanted to get.

Even if his head wouldn't stop thinking about it afterwards.

Conan's eyes did not leave Sawaki's form after what he had witnessed. He watched him for what it seemed to be half an hour drinking plain mineral water, promptly ignoring Nana commenting that she had been given a nail polish, made in France and probably worth more than the child's entire life.

She had even used it to draw a cat ─ even if Shishido claimed it was a raccoon ─ in the wine cork. If that wasn't wasting money, Conan didn't know what it was.

Ford found a note in the floor, which was apparently for Sawaki. It said that Asahi was probably going to be late, so he was asking him to take any wine from the wine cellar.

Everyone decided to go along.

That was where Sawaki was attacked, narrowly avoiding a bobby trap by Conan's quick reaction, shouting at him to "Watch out!" just in time for an arrow to wheeze past his head.

While the inspector and Mouri were staring at the arrow, stuck in the wall, Shinichi found the crossbow right away on the other side of the room. Next to the weapon, he found something. "The Eight of Spades," he pronounced, picking the card up with a napkin.

"That means Murakami rigged this," Shiratori pointed out. "And that note was also his."

"If that's the case," the inspector frowned. "Why did Murakami skip number nine and go after number eight, Sawaki-san?"

"He didn't," the high school detective said, prompting everyone to stare at them, horrified looks on their eyes. "Most likely, the reason Asahi-san is not present is not because he's running late, but rather..."

"Then... Could it be...?"

His theory didn't take long to be proved right, because they found Asahi right away. Swimming with the fish around the building, pretty much dead, a card peeking out his breast pocket.

The Nine of Spades.

To their horror all doors had been locked electronically, making it impossible for them to escape. Their mobile phones were completely out of range, and the phone line's in the reception desk had been cut. The emergency exit had been blocked by cement, also.

It didn't take them long to realize they were trapped in an underwater prison.

"This is all your fault!" Nishina screamed at Kogoro. "It's your fault we got involved in this!"

"That's right!" Nana loudly agreed. "What are you going to do about it?!"

Apparently, all Kogoro could do about it is frown, look away, and remain silent.

"I don't think it is," Shinichi suddenly said, causing every single person in the room to stare at him. "If these murders had been committed because of a grudge against Detective Mouri, as Inspector Megure has explained to me over the phone, it makes no sense."

Megure blinked. "What do you mean with that, Kudo-kun?"

"I can understand the first three targets, but the rest of the victims had not that much of a strong bond with him," he explained. "If I were the killer, I would go for people that are closer to him, such as Ran or even Conan, who has been living with him for more than a year."

As the others seemed to agree, nodding with each other, Shinichi felt a burning sensation in the back of his neck. Turning around, he found himself holding Conan's intense stare.

_You seem to know a lot about the way a murderer's mind works, _he could almost hear him say.

"That's ridiculous!" the model suddenly screamed. "Why would someone I don't even know have a grudge against me?!" she then paused, hesitating. "It... It doesn't make sense."

"There's something, right?" Conan asked, innocently. "Something has been bothering you for a while."

Her gaze lowered to the ground. "It doesn't matter."

"Let us determine if it does or doesn't matter," Megure pressed.

So she told them. It all had happened too suddenly, one moment she was talking over the phone with a friend while driving and the other her foot was slamming on the brakes because of a light she had missing. A man in a bike had been hit, falling into his head, breathing hard as he stood up. She drove away in a panic.

Coming into the conclusion that her confession had absolutely nothing to do with the case, Kogoro decided they should think about a way out instead. Megure agreed instantly and Ford suggested to split up to look for it.

"Listen," Kogoro said, with a stern tone. "Ran and Conan, stay here. Nana-san, please don't wander off."

Nana nodded, strangely quiet, while Ran only fixed her look on her lap. Conan rolled his eyes, however, sipping a bit of his orange juice and watching his brother leave with the adults.

Once the two girls started talking, Nana complaining about how much time they were taking, Conan figured that was his chance to slip away. So, silently, he started to tiptoe away.

He leaned against a random piece of furniture, hidden from plain view. _I guess I'll go look too, _Conan grinned, setting the can into the floor.

But as he was trying to get to the door, the child found himself face to face with Ran. "Hi, Ran-neechan," he offered, pitching his voice into a innocent tone. "Do you want something?"

"Don't play dumb with me," which didn't work on her. She placed her hands on her waist, just like a mother would scold her child. "Weren't you told to stay _here?_"

"I have been told a lot of things, actually."

Ran sighed, clearly exasperated. "Come on," she grabbed his hands and started to drag him away. "Geez, you're so full of curiosity..."

Before he could even complain, the lights suddenly went off. Both of them looked around through the darkness, confused about the sudden black out.

"What?" Conan directed his sight to Nana's direction and realized, with a gasp, that her nails were glowing on the dark. "What's going on? Why did the light-?"

"Nana-san!" he shouted. "Cover your-!"

Her screams resounding on his ears caused him to come into a stop, watching as the hand suddenly dropping lifelessly into the ground. He also heard the juice can he had left on the ground clattering, as if someone had kicked it, yet paid no attention.

When the lights back came up, he found himself standing in front of her dead body. The knife stuck on her back her the lifeless stare were proof enough of that.

Soon, the rest of the people came into the room, before horrified expressions overcome each of their faces.

"The Seven of Spades," Shinichi noted, eyes narrowing at the sight of the two cars that lied at her side. "And the Joker."

"Murakami was known as the Joker at the casino," explained the inspector. "This means that this was made by him."

Even as they discussed about Murakami being in the building and Kogoro went out to look for him, followed by Shiratori, Shinichi's eyes hadn't yet left the card. His hand raised to his chin, thinking deeply.

He did look away, however, when a little hand crossed his line of view. Blinking twice, he watched Conan pulling her shirt back so he could see better. There was a hand print.

"Right-handed," he heard the child mumbling to himself.

Realization hit the high school detective hard, earning a confused look from the child due to his startled gasp.

"I have looked into Murakami before coming here," he explained. "I saw photos of him. He was definitely left-handed."

Conan's eyes widened, in horror, when he understood what that meant, before looking over his shoulder. Shinichi had no idea what that spilled drink on the floor had to do with anything. The next instant, the child was back on his feet and running around the place, desperately looking for something on everyone's legs

He watched his younger brother's eyes sharpening at the sight of the stains in Sawaki's pants. Only then, he got what had been going through his mind and understood who the killer was.

_But why? _Shinichi couldn't help but wonder. _Why would Sawaki-san...?_

Even if he had no idea of why, it seemed like Conan had realized something as he suddenly slipped away from the room, rushing towards the kitchen. Curious about what was in his mind, he gave a last glance towards Sawaki before following the child.

He found him right away, pulling a bottle of mineral water out of the fridge with a smug grin on his face.

"What are you doing?" Shinichi asked.

Conan jumped, clearly startled, and almost dropped the bottle. His head snapped his way and it didn't even take a second for the shock to dissolve into a blank expression.

The child said nothing, just stared at him for a moment, before continuing his work. Shinichi couldn't help but sigh, watching him fill seven glasses with water.

Before reaching for the salt.

Seemingly noticing the puzzled expression on the detective's face, he decided to talk. "I caught Sawaki-san trying out some spices not that long ago," Conan didn't even look at him. "Including chilli-powder."

"Oh..." realization came to him in an instant. "Oh!"

"Oh," Conan rolled his eyes, before setting the glasses in a tray and leaving.

He didn't even need to look to notice that his brother was following, and he didn't even try. He just approached Kogoro, who raised an eyebrow at him, and offered him a glass of water.

"Idiot," Kogoro yelled. "Don't move around by yourself! We have no idea where Murakami is hiding!"

"But my name doesn't have any numbers," he explained. "Besides, Shinichi-san was with me the entire time, even if he _is _a potential target."

Ran's eyes shifted away from Nana to the child when she heard those words, a bit stunned. _Did Conan-kun just call Shinichi...? _her eyes softened, watching the child offering water to every single adult in the room, a wide smile etched on his face.

An incredibly forced and equally fake smile, that was.

She then turned to look at Shinichi whose gaze hadn't yet left the child. Ran didn't miss the way his lips were pressed together in a thin line, or the way he closed his eyes, sighing as if he was actually regretting all his actions.

Any other day, she would have walked up to him, tried to talk to him and try, with all her might, to make him feel better. Today was different, though. Because she knew he had brought this down all by himself.

So she ignored the urge to go comfort him.

Conan, on the other hand, never even noticed he had been watched, so he leaned once more over the body. His eyes fell on her hand, taking notice of the fake nail that had gotten off, in the struggle. _Or maybe... _looking around, he noticed there was a particular little thing missing. It wasn't anywhere on the floor or in her pockets. _That means..._

Before he could finish his line of thought, the ground started shaking before a violent explosion somewhere in the restaurant. The lights went off again as a result, so Shiratori took into his own hands to protect Shishido, the next victim.

So, they waited for the killer to strike. He didn't. Instead, the emergency lights went on.

Followed by another explosion, shattering the glass that had protected them from the water all this time. Before they knew it, all people in the room found themselves trying to run away from the giant waves that threatened to swallow everything in sight.

Only that there was nowhere to run. It wasn't long before, one by one, they got themselves dragged away by the incredibly powerful strength of the sea water.

Everything was too sudden the little boy. Next thing he knew, he was being pulled down by the force of the water, then shaken around to the point he wasn't able to tell right from left. But managed to stabilize himself against the wall, so he pushed himself with it and began to swim towards the surface.

Because of the surprise, however, he hadn't had the time to a deep breath before staying underwater for so long. That was why, in mere seconds, his lungs began to burn. They screamed at him, begged for some air.

_Damn it, _he cursed inside his mind, forcing himself to swim faster. _I can't..._

Air bubbles soon covered his sight and he found himself sinking instead of going up, his body growing weak and limp as the lack of oxygen deprived him from what little strength he had left.

Then, everything began to fade away as he felt himself drifting in the water, unable to keep up this fight any longer.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Yeah, you're right about that. In fact, I don't think I will cover a lot of movies after this one.

Dy: Thanks for pointing that out! I've fixed it already.


	36. Because I Want to Believe

**File Thirty-Six: Because I Want to Believe**

Air bubbles soon covered his sight and he found himself sinking instead of going up, his body growing weak and limp as the lack of oxygen deprived him from what little strength he had left.

Then, everything began to fade away as he felt himself drifting in the water, unable to keep up this fight any longer.

Before he felt a hand gripping his arm and pulling him towards a chest. Blinking his eyes open, he managed to look up.

Shinichi gave him a comforting smile, as he swam to the surface.

"_Just hold on a little longer, okay buddy?" _it was almost as if he could hear him talking.

No, that wasn't only his imagination. Inside his head, Conan really could hear his brother saying those words to him. His voice, warm and kind. His tight grip on him, determined to not let go under any circumstances.

The genuine fear he could see in his eyes, even if he desperately tried to hide it.

_The scent of blood that got more prominent as he pressed his little head against his body._

_And his own tears rolling down his face as he felt his world, ever so slowly, going completely black._

With a splash, his head popped out from the surface and the air he so desperately needed finally entered his lungs, causing him to violently choke out the water that had collected in his lungs. "There, there," his brother hand rubbed in circles against the child's back. "You're okay now."

Only when he got his breathing under control, he managed to get a look around. Besides his brother right beside him, he spotted Kogoro helping Nishina, Shishido right at their side. Not long thereafter, Megure and Shiratori joined them as well, followed by Sawaki and Ford.

With a gasp, he realized there was someone missing. So, without thinking about it twice, he grabbed a bottle that floated nearby and, pressing his thumb against the lip of it, he took a big breath.

"Hey!" his brother stopped him before he could go underwater. "What do you think you-?!"

"It's Ran-neechan!" he shouted, causing everyone to look at him, horrified. "She hasn't gone up yet!"

Before he could even watch the teenage boy's expression, he found himself being pressed against Kogoro. "Take care of him, Kogoro-san," was all he said.

Kogoro blinked, still feeling a bit lost.

"Wait!" they didn't expect Conan to take off his jacket, before reaching for his suspenders. "Use these if Ran-neechan is stuck."

Shinichi gave the suspenders a confused look, before some sort of understanding passed by his face. After a quick nod, he retrieved the bottle from the child's hands and went underwater.

He knew Shinichi would figure out how to use them right away. They were pretty intuitive, after all.

Spinning around, he faced Kogoro. "I'll be just fine! Go!"

Kogoro's dumbfounded expression instantly dulled, before a serious nod let Conan know he understood. "Grab into this," he helped the child latch into the ceiling, where Nishina was also hanging from. "Don't let go, you hear me?!"

Before the child could even answer, the man also disappeared under the waters.

And like so, little Conan waited.

For what it seemed like an eternity, the small boy just floated there, heart on his throat and eyes fixed on the surface, anxiety gnawing at him because he had absolutely no idea of what was happening in the depths of that gradually flooding building.

_It's taking them far too long, _without meaning to, his grip tightened. _Are they...?_

Luckily he didn't even get to end the sentence because Kogoro's head popped out right away, his daughter secure on his arms. Shinichi came out not long thereafter, and breathing greedily the air he had been deprived of for so long.

Ran began coughing then opened her eyes, and only then Conan let out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding. _Everyone is okay, _he thought, genuinely relieved.

It seemed like it was too early to be relieved, however, because Megure started groaning right after that. His wound had opened up, apparently.

And Sawaki noticed something. Floating in the surface of the water, there were six cards. The Six, Five, Four, Three, Two and Ace of Spades.

"Damn!" Shishido cursed, loudly. "So he wants to kill all of us at once! Who is he kidding?!"

"But it we keep this up, it will turn out that way," Ford pointed out. "There's no exit!"

"There is one!" Conan informed, causing all gazes to focus on his form. "You know, the shattered glass!"

"I see!" Kogoro nodded. "We just have to get out to the sea from here."

Nishina, who was a terrible swimmer, briefly freaked out until Shishido promised to help him out. Shiratori decided to take Megure with him while Kogoro told Ran he would do the same thing with her.

Finally, Sawaki proclaimed he would lead the way and dived in. Everyone did the same right after that.

Conan stared at the surface of the steadily rising water and let out a sigh.

_Here we go again, right?_

He squeaked, however, when an arm circled around his waist all of sudden. "I can do it in my own, you know," the child didn't need to turn around to know who was holding him.

"I'm not taking any chances," he replied right away, in such a serious way that Conan knew that there was no way around it. "Make sure to take a deep breath this time around, alright?"

Having no other option, the little boy did as he was told, barely closing his mouth in time for the older Kudo to pull him down with him.

Even if he would _never _say it out loud, Conan was honestly glad that his brother was actually helping him out. The way to the ocean was such a long stretch that he didn't think he would have made it with the help with his little limbs and small lungs. In fact, he was almost running out of air by the time Shinichi pulled him out of the water.

"There you go," the older brother said, as he helped the child back to solid ground.

Conan barely nodded at him, in thanks, and watched him push himself out as well. Even as the teen started going upstairs, the child only stared. He watched, still as a lifeless doll in the place he had been set in, his brother's back while the distance between them grew larger and larger with each step the high school detective took.

He was _Singani_. A dangerous criminal that had most likely killed several innocent people without mercy. Cruel and cold.

But, at times like this one, he would see _Shinichi_. His caring brother, sometimes a mother-hen. Kind and warm.

Two conflicting personalities, opposites. Like light and dark, black and white, good and evil...

Like truth and falsehood.

_Which one...?_

"Conan?" Conan almost jumped when he heard his brother addressing him, turning around to face him. Confusion was evident on his face. "Is something wrong?"

He hesitated before answering, causing Shinichi to frown.

"Say," finally, Conan began. "Are you-?"

"Nishina!" Shishido's shout caused the brothers to direct their attention from each other to the man. "Hey, hang in there!"

They saw Shishido shaking Nishina, who lied on the floor beside the stairs, with a pale face and, quite honestly, looking like death. One look at his chest and they could tell what was wrong ─ it wasn't moving. He had most likely drown.

"Let me perform artificial respiration!" Sawaki was instantly at their side, and Conan noticed Shinichi's eyes narrowing, slightly. "I'm certified to give CPR."

"Hold on," the high school detective's voice caused the sommelier to stop on his tracks. "Detective Shiratori, please do the artificial respiration!"

Everyone looked at him, completely confused.

"Hey!" Kogoro seemed to be rather annoyed. "What are you-?!"

"Hurry!" he pressed.

Shiratori nodded his head at that, rushing towards the fallen man to begin working as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the stares hadn't left the detective, who only watched the man work for a bit.

"Kudo-kun," at least, until Megure spoke up. "Why didn't you want Sawaki-san to perform CPR on Nishina-san? "

"That's easy," Conan suddenly said, with a disturbingly bright grin on his face. "It's because Nishina-san would most likely die if he did!"

"... Huh?"

Shinichi chuckled. "It's actually as Conan says," he stated, calmly. "This set of cases, after all, were not orchestrated by Murakami Jou as the true culprit has wanted us to believe."

"... Eh?!"

So, the teenage detective proceeded to explain everything to the shocked group. He told them the killer probably had found about Murakami's background as a card dealer and that he had that nickname, Joker. Then, after realizing that all the people he wanted to kill so badly had numbers on their names, he had decided to take advantage of it.

His true and only targets had been Nana, Asahi and Tsuji. All the other victims had been attacked just because they fit with the theme.

There was also Nishina, whom the true culprit had just tried to attack by pretending to give the man CPR. Hadn't Shiratori saved him instead, the man would have been long gone by now.

"C-Could it be?" Shiratori managed, shocked about the turn of events.

"That's right. The one who killed Asahi-san and Nana-san and tried to kill Tsuji-san and Nishina-san..." Shinichi met Sawaki's eyes, who simply went pale when the attention fell on him. "... is you, Sawaki Kohei-san!"

Even as Sawaki loudly argued about Shinichi's deduction, the boy continued. He explained that he had first killed Asahi, then called everyone there using his name. Also, it was him the one to send the nail polish with luminous paint to Nana.

"Motive!" Megure asked him, desperate. "What was the motive?"

Shinichi's gaze fell on the ground, strangely silent.

"Ageusia," it was Conan who spoke first, before turning to Sawaki, who just stood there, frozen. "You didn't notice it, did you? When I gave you that glass of mineral water the other time."

"Notice what?" Sawaki blinked.

"It had salt on it," the child explained. "I found it weird when I saw you, a sommelier, tasting something as strong as chili-powder, so I wanted to know if there was something wrong with you."

"I see," Sawaki let out an arrogant laugh. "I might have lost my sense of taste, but that doesn't prove that I killed Nana-san, does it?"

"That's true," Shinichi's slipped closed, head lowering slightly. "I don't have any proof."

"Hey!" Kogoro yelled. "You can't just-!"

"But you, Sawaki-san, _do _have proof," he continued, eyes snapping open. "Right inside your pocket."

From his pocket he pulled it. Sawaki didn't move for a moment, a shocked expression crossing his face as he stared at the cork in his hand, and the cat doodle on it.

Nana must have put it in his pocket right before dying.

So, Sawaki had no other choice but to confess. He had been the one hit in the accident that Nana had caused. Asahi had used all his money buying all kinds of wine, but did nothing to care for them. Nishina had acted like a gourmet and taught his readers incorrect knowledge about wine. And Tsuji had made fun of his profession, which was his life and passion.

All that stress, and the injury on his head, had led him to this disorder. They had ruined his career as a sommelier. Because of that, he had killed them all, using Murakami's name, who he had found on Kogoro's doorstep. He had wanted to apologize for everything, but found no one at home. So, Sawaki had taken his chance to murder him.

"Then," Shiratori couldn't believe it. "Are you saying you had no grudge against Mouri-san or Inspector Megure?"

"Exactly," his voice had acquired a colder, more sinister tone.

"Then you called Shishido-san and I..." Ford's eyes opened, wide.

"... Just to make up the missing four and six?" Shishido continued, teeth clenching.

"Precisely. As for Shiratori-san, the three, and Mouri-san, the five, I predicted they'd come along once I told them about Asahi-san," he turned back to the serious detective. "To be honest, I didn't expect that Kudo Shinichi, the one, would actually come along as well. But I'm glad, because I couldn't find him anywhere."

Conan figured everything would be over by now. Sawaki had nowhere to go and he was surrounded by Megure and Shiratori, members of the police department, besides Kogoro, ex-police detective who would most likely be able to pin him down in a second.

What happened, however, wasn't what the child had expected. One second his brother was shouting for someone to hold Sawaki down, and the other the killer had taken a device from his pocket and pushed a button. Something exploded, and the floor beneath them started shaking and, ever so slowly, tilting sideways.

In a flash, he had taken Ran, who was incredibly weak from being trapped under a car and almost drowning ─ twice.

Everyone froze in place, watching as the criminal held a knife under the girl's chin.

"Nobody move! If you move, she's dead!"

"_You don't want him dead, do you?"_

Conan let out a shaky breath, eyes wide as the feeling of deja vu washed all over him, crashing in waves of fragmented voices and feelings he couldn't really put together.

All of sudden, the knife wasn't on Ran's throat but in _his._

Shaking his head, the feeling on his neck disappeared. _No, not now, _before he could realize what was going on, he was following his brother and Kogoro up the stairs, chasing after the criminal that had taken Ran hostage. _It's not the time for this!_

"Ran!" Shinichi shouted, speeding up towards the closing doors of the elevator, where Sawaki had just gotten in with the girl.

They closed just in time for the teen to collide against them. "Damn it!" the loud curse ripped away from his throat.

"Kudo-kun!" Megure shouted, passing by him along with the others. "This way!"

They got inside another elevator right away, and they got forced to wait what it felt like hours for it to reach the roof. While they waited for it to arrive at their destination, Shiratori took out his gun, checking if he had bullets.

Conan's blue eyes gazed at the gun.

_Click._

"_... I'll punch a hole through this kid's head!"_

_The muzzle pressed roughly against his head, causing the little child to bit back the tears that were collecting on his eyes. The man that was holding him was screaming, loudly, and did not let his grip around him weaken in the sightless._

_Shinichi hesitated, but still held the gun in place, proving that he wasn't going to give up that easily._

_Suddenly, the man behind Conan smirked._

"_I know. You, help me out."_

_Even if he had no idea what this man wanted, Conan felt his hair standing on a end, figuring he wouldn't like this at all._

"_Let's play a fun little game, shall we?"_

Next thing Conan was aware of, he was on the rooftop, standing right in front of Ran and Sawaki, beside the others he had just come with. There was a helicopter floating above the gradually collapsing building they currently were in.

At his side, Shiratori pulled out his gun. "Let Ran-san go!" he warned, even if his voice was wavering. "Otherwise, I'll shoot!"

"Interesting! Shoot if you dare!"

Shinichi watched as Shiratori's hands started shaking and mentally cursed.

_If only I was the one with the gun..._

"Shiratori-kun, don't!" pleaded Megure, before dropping to his knees. The wound on his stomach seemed to be more serious than it had seemed. "It's no use to run away, even with the helicopter. Let her go!"

"Shut up! I'm taking her along with me to kill Tsuji. I'll kill him and die myself. I'm taking this woman along with me!"

As the Sawaki started laughing, like a complete maniac, Kogoro began to grow pale at the realization that this man, who he honestly thought was a good guy, wasn't going to let his daughter, the light of his life, live to see another day.

The floor titled again, causing everyone to stumble but remain upright at the end. The place was going to fall and every single one of them would die if that kept up.

"Give me your gun," Sawaki demanded, prompting everyone to flinch. "I'm going to stab her!"

Shiratori hesitated.

"Hey, Shiratori, give me your gun," Kogoro whispered at him, a determined expression on his features. Shiratori's head snapped towards him, visually shocked. "I said give it to me."

"You've got to be kidding. I can't hand it over to you anyhow."

"Please do it, Detective Shiratori," he didn't expect to hear Shinichi speaking. "If he takes Ran, he will kill her."

"Even if you say so I-"

"What are you doing?!" Sawaki was growing more and more restless. "Hurry!"

Blood trailed down Ran's neck when the criminal pressed the knife against her neck, even harder than before. To Shinichi and Kogoro's displeasure, Shiratori gave up to the pressure and put the lock on his gun, before throwing it at the floor.

The weapon lied there, right between the two sides of the conflict.

Sawaki began to walk, dragging the hostage with him, closer to it, but paused when he saw Kogoro and Shiratori readying themselves to attack. He stared at them for a moment, wondering how he was going to get out of that situation, before his eyes fell on the little child that stood right beside them with a scared look on his eyes.

And let out an evil grin.

"Kid, you bring it here!" the kid in question winced when he heard he was addressing him. "You want this woman to die right now?!"

Conan just looked back at him, watching as Ran seemed to weakly struggle at the mention of his name, in vain obviously. Megure was shouting at Sawaki, not comfortable in the sightless at the idea of a mere child doing such a dangerous thing as holding a gun in the first place.

But the child frowned, swallowing all the fear he was feeling right know so he could move forward. "Conan!" he even ignored his brother's voice, that pleaded him, desperately, to stay back.

"_Let's play a fun little game, shall we?"_

"D-Don't do it," Ran begged, barely above a whisper. "Conan-kun, don't give it to him... Don't give it to him!"

_Then, something sharp pressed against his tiny neck. Conan didn't need to look to know that a knife was there, to keep him from running away as he was lowered to the ground. Then, the gun on his head was retired._

_Something was placed on his hands. This time he did look down and gasped, horrified._

Ever so slowly, the young boy bent down, fingers meeting with the cold steel of the gun as he gingerly picked it up from the ground.

_The gun on his hands felt cold and heavy. Then, a feeling of dread overcame him as the man's hands enveloped his and, with an unsettling kindness, moved them until Conan was pointing right at Shinichi._

_The teen in question looked back at the man holding his brother hostage. Shock was written all over his face._

"Now be a good boy and bring it here! Hurry up!"

Conan's eyes went wide.

"I said hurry up!"

_I see. That's what it was, _he finally, _finally _realized. _That's why Occhan... And that's why... Onii-chan..._

_But Shinichi didn't even hesitate at that. His eyes narrowed, slightly, and something crossed by his face. A solemn look the child had never seen before had taken hold on his face, icy cold eyes looking back at the man._

Shinichi watched, stunned and equally horrified, as Conan pointed his gun right at Ran.

_Click._

_The next second, the shot had been made. Conan felt as a bullet grazed his leg, causing him to fall into his side, unable to bear with the pain on his leg._

The next second, the shot had been made. Conan watched as the bullet hit Ran in the leg, causing her to fall into her side, passing out at the instant.

_But the shock of actually being shot caused the little child accidentally pull the trigger. As he fell and the gun slipped from his hands, falling a few feet ahead of him, he watched Shinichi giving out a pained groan, moving a hand towards his side._

Ran's leg was bleeding.

_Shinichi was bleeding._

He didn't pay attention to anything else. He barely noticed the criminal letting the girl go because she was no more than an extra baggage to him anymore. Dimly, he noticed Kogoro taking Sawaki down, and Shinichi running. He barely realized she had been falling towards the sea, because the roof was titling, or that his brother had caught her just in time. Or her father picking her up, carrying her towards the helicopter.

The only thing he was aware was the blood tracking down her leg.

_So, with all little strength he had left, completely forgetting about his injured leg, the child started to run, hands stretched towards his brother, who just wouldn't stop bleeding._

"_Onii-chan!"_

This time around, however, Conan just fell into his knees. Dull eyes traveled to the weapon, that was still on his hands.

He couldn't stop staring.

_Just as he was about to reach him, a burning pain on his shoulder knocked him off his feet again. His brother's arms enveloped his weak body, pressing him tightly against his chest._

_Even if he could still feel the stench of blood. If it was Shinichi's or his, the child honestly didn't know._

_Weakly, he glanced over his shoulder. The criminal had gathered the weapon he had dropped and was pointing at them with one hand, and pressing his other hand against his bloody shoulder. Dimly, he wondered if Shinichi had shot him as soon as Conan had fallen._

"_It's the police!" all sounds were getting further and further away. "Drop the weapon!"_

Two warm hands enveloped his, causing him to look up, startled. He was met with a pair of compassionate, kind blue eyes. Slowly blinking, as if he had just woken up from a dream, Conan nodded and let go of the gun. Shinichi took it from him and, without breaking eye contact, passed it to Shiratori.

His warm hand didn't leave, just held his as he gently guided him to the helicopter.

The next thing little Conan was aware of was sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. Looking up, he could see the light on the _'Operating' _sign on.

_That's right, I shot Ran-neechan._

He did, even if he had tried to only graze her leg. His hands had shaken and he had missed. Because of that the doctors inside of that operating room were trying to get the bullet out.

The bullet _he _had inflicted on her.

_With these hands, I..._

He stared at the palm on his hands and wondered. What good had they done to anybody?

They hadn't been able to save Hirota Masami, Haibara's dear sister.

They had shot his brother all those years ago.

And now, Ran...

No matter how many times he looked, he couldn't see anything but blood on them.

Something latched around his wrists, gently pulling them down until his eyes had broken contact with his hands. He found himself face to face with his brother.

Who didn't say anything, just kneeled down right in front of him.

At least, until the child tried to look away.

"You know you saved her, right?" Shinichi said to him, eyes warm and kind, if searching. "The doctor said her injury wasn't that bad, and that she will recover soon."

"They are operating her."

"Yeah, but the chances of her getting out just fine are drastically high. She only lost a bit of blood, but the hospital has plenty of her type this time around. And even if they didn't, I'm right here, so that's not a problem."

Conan remained silent.

"So, what is it?" his brother pressed. "What is bothering you so much, Conan?"

The child frowned.

"Conan-"

"... I shot her," finally, he made eye contact. "I hurt Ran-neechan. If it wasn't for me, Ran-neechan-"

"Ran would be dead if you didn't!" the loudness of his voice caused the child to flinch, seriously startled. "You saved her, Conan. You saved Ran. Isn't that enough?"

Everything went quiet in that instant and Conan felt Kogoro, Megure and Shiratori's eyes on him, causing the kid to try shrink a bit on his seat. A wave of Shinichi's hand to the rest of the group sent all gazes away, to which Conan was honestly thankful for.

"Will you tell me?" he said, softly and gently. "Please."

By now, Conan was shaking, and Shinichi couldn't help but grip his little cold hands, tightly, as if the child in front of him would vanish if he let go.

"... Why?" he barely heard Conan say, in a broken whisper. "Why do I keep hurting those I love?"

Shinichi certainly didn't expect those words to come out from the little boy's lips in front of him, but when they did, everything started to make sense. He now could understand the despair he could see behind his glasses, or the shaking, that hadn't stopped, rather increased over time.

Then again, hurting those he loved...

"We aren't that different, are we?" the teen smiled.

"It... It's not that. You wouldn't understand."

"Believe me, I do."

The smile on Shinichi's face faltered at the sight of the tears collecting on Conan's eyes.

He couldn't help but notice how young his brother was. Far too young to deal with all he had gone through. Too much for handle, and on top of that, all alone. Because Conan would never say how much he was hurting out loud.

As a proof of that, the child was trying so hard not to let a single tear fall.

Following his brotherly instincts, Shinichi leaned over and kindly embraced the young child who, clearly startled at the sudden motion, flinched and blinked, confusedly, at the sudden sight of the chest right in front of his nose. His little head raised, staring at Shinichi's broad smile, eyes wide as if wondering what was going on.

"It looked like you needed a hug," was all his brother said.

And it seemed like he did need one, if the way he felt some tension leeching away from his body, just like magic, was something to go by. The feeling of warmth and safety momentarily made him forget all his worries and problems, as well as his pride, it seemed, since he snuggled deeper into his brother's hold.

He hadn't noticed until now, but there was a scent. A scent that was undeniably _his _and that he had missed so much.

So different from the stench of blood his mind would remind him from time to time.

"_Just hold on a little longer, okay buddy?"_

Without meaning to, Conan's little arms went around his brother's neck, hiding his face on his shoulder. Trying, with all his might, to block out all those terrifying memories.

_But he still could feel the pain on his shoulder. His brother was holding him close, desperately trying to keep him awake, muttering some comforting words that didn't really serve their purpose._

_Because what it hurt the most was his heart. He had... He had..._

The tears he had been holding back drenched his brother's jacket, but Shinichi didn't seem to care, just squeezed even tighter. It was almost as if he was _glad _that this little child, who had always tried to endure much more than he should, was sobbing on his shoulder.

Even if he pained to see this boy sad, it was harder to see him holding it all inside, wearing that emotionless mask that he would use, looking at him with those empty eyes that certainly didn't belong to the face of a young child.

"... Sorry," Shinichi looked at the back of his brother's head, taken aback. "I'm sorry, Onii-chan."

Briefly, he remembered Conan had said the same thing back then. He had cried, too, as Shinichi held him just like now, forced to helplessly watch his little brother losing blood, far too quickly for his own liking.

But unlike that time, the reason was different.

Conan pressed his face even more, bathing on Shinichi's warmth, finally coming into the realization that this, _this _person right here was his one and only brother.

Also, he understood what Haibara had said the other time. She was right. He didn't hate his brother, he had _wanted _to hate him instead. Hating was much easier, after all, than to _trying._

But he wouldn't take the easy route. Not anymore.

_Because I want to believe. _

_I want to believe in him._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I will see what I can do ;)

Asahina Chihaya: Those ideas are pretty interesting, thank you for suggesting them! I might take some of them in consideration in the future.

Dy: I won't write all of them, mostly because the majority of them wouldn't contribute with the plot of this story in particular, and I don't want this fic to even longer than it's probably turn out to be, lol! I might cover one or two, though. I'm not completely sure.


	37. That Weird English Teacher

**File Thirty-Seven: That Weird English Teacher**

Kogoro let out a tired sigh, running a hand through his hair as he waited for Ran to come out from the operating room. He had been pacing back and forth in the waiting room, impatiently waiting for a doctor to come out and say to him that the extraction of the bullet had been a success.

Even if he has been told she would be just fine, he wouldn't calm down until then. He was the father, after all.

Yet, it seemed like being her father wasn't enough, huh? Even with years and years of experience of reducing dangerous criminals under his belt, he had done nothing to save her.

In fact, the only reason Ran was safe lied a few feet ahead him, curled on his brother's lap, fast asleep.

"So the brat is out cold, huh?" he commented to Shinichi, whose head instantly snapped up, right at his direction, and hushed him, holding a finger in front of his lips.

"Shh, don't wake him up," he whispered, before gazing down at the slumbering child, his finger brushing some bangs away from his eyes in such an affectionate way that took Kogoro by surprise. "I just got him to sleep."

_So even the detective brat has a soft side, huh?_

Kogoro was quiet for a second, watching the little boy, who seemed to shiver a bit ─ definitely because how cold it was in the small waiting room ─ for a moment until he sighed, for the eleventh time this day.

Shinichi was shocked to see the older man suddenly taking his jacket off before gently lying it down over the sleeping boy.

"Don't get the wrong idea," he might have stared a bit too long, Shinichi realized. "I just owed the squirt one."

"Is it because he saved Ran?"

"Not only that, he saved me as well," Shinichi was surprised at that. "The kid flew a goddamn _helicopter _on his own," as the older detective groaned, Shinichi couldn't help but flinch, violently. Luckily for him, though, Kogoro didn't seem to notice. "What kind of eight year-old does that? Who taught him to, anyway?"

Shinichi just laughed awkwardly, pointedly ignoring that last question.

"He always does his best to save everyone, that little idiot," the teen commented, smile vanishing from his features. "It would be nice, though, if he wasn't so hard with himself."

Kogoro couldn't say anything about that, just stepped out so he could be even closer to the door.

If he was being honest, that detective freak puzzled him. For an entire year, he had been forced to hear about Ran complaining about him because he kept disappearing again and again, leaving his little brother alone and worried sick. He had wondered if he actually cared for them at all.

But seeing him watch his brother sleep with those loving eyes, actually staying there and looking genuinely worried for Ran every time he glanced at the doors of the operating room...

Great Detective Mouri Kogoro frowned. There definitely was something fishy about this.

* * *

The first thing Ran noticed when she woke up was a light weight right beside her. That was why she turned her head to her side and blinked, tiredly but curiously, at the small, yet a bit blurry still, form beside her.

Once her sight focused on the young boy sleeping on top of her bed, she let a tender smile adorn her face.

"Try to let him sleep a bit longer," a voice she knew since childhood said, causing her to look at the source. "He had a rough night."

"Shinichi?" Ran was a bit more than confused. "What are you doing here?"

Quite honestly, she had expected him to leave as soon as she let her eyes off him. Figured she had been wrong.

"I wanted to make sure everything was okay," he explained. "I'll have to leave soon, though. Probably after your father returns from his bathroom break."

Ran just sighed, tiredly, having already thought he would say that. "When will you come back?"

Shinichi frowned.

"_Why are you back?" _the young, female voice ran through his head.

_Startled by it, Shinichi turned around to see little Sherry standing inside his own bathroom, her gelid gaze piercing through his face. Which was so painfully typical of her._

"_I understand that you wanted to see Kudo-kun so badly after hearing that he was in critical condition, but now he is perfectly fine," she continued. "So what are you doing? Why are you going to school as if nothing has happened at all?"_

_Shinichi stared at his reflexion on the mirror for a moment, before sighing. "Because they are suffering," he confessed, taking the girl aback for a second. "I have hurt them so badly. I... I don't want to see them both like that anymore... That's why, just for a little bit..."_

"_Idiot," she spatted without hesitation. "Do you prefer seeing them dead?"_

"_I will be careful! I'm not planning to stay long, anyway," he argued, face going completely solemn. "I will finish everything I have left here..."_

"_Like asking Mouri-san out?" he should have expected that young girl reading him like a book. "Then what? Are you going to confess your feelings to her?"_

"_... And what if I do?"_

"_Best case scenario, she will die," her eyes narrowed. "Otherwise, she will wait. For an undetermined amount of time, maybe forever. Worrying, wondering where you might be. Not knowing a thing about your true nature."_

_Shinichi didn't reply, just closed his eyes._

"_Shinichi-san," she continued. "You and I are fugitives. One wrong step and every single person related to us is going to succumb to a cruel fate. Mouri-san, Kudo-kun, everyone. I know it is hard but-"_

"_I need to get ready for school," he interrupted her. "You will be late too if you don't hurry, Shiho-chan."_

_Shiho gave him a blank, unamused look and, probably knowing that there was no way around it, left the bathroom. The teenager followed right after her._

"I don't know," there was a crestfallen look on his eyes as he said that. "To be honest, I don't know _if _I will be back."

The girl just stared at him for a bit, before she frowned. "But you promised me," her voice raised just enough to get her point across, but low enough not to disturb the sleeping child in the room. "You said you would..."

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember ever saying that to you, Ran."

Ran's eyebrows were brought together, confusion painting her expression. "Then..." before she realized what had happened.

Both teens looked at Conan, in shock for a few seconds, before sighing in unison.

"That kid..." Shinichi pressed a hand to his face, letting out a groan as he imagined _how _Conan would have said such a thing. A tad dramatic, probably. Terribly cheesy and embarrassing, definitely. "Making things more complicated than they already are..."

"If they are complicated, that's probably because you left me all alone at the restaurant, remember?" Ran huffed irritably. "I know that Conan shouldn't have said all that, but he did it to cheer me up," a brief glare caused Shinichi to actually flinch back. "He wasn't even eight at the time but he did his best, unlike _some people._"

"Yeah, but he didn't have to do that!" Shinichi argued. "It's not fair."

"What?" then, anger took hold of her expression. "How can you say it isn't fair when you-?!"

"It's not fair to _you, _Ran."

At his words, Ran paused, completely taken off guard. Feeling completely speechless by that simple sentence, she watched Shinichi's conflicted eyes looking away from hers, fixing in the window beside him, as if it was currently the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

"It wouldn't be fair if I made you wait for so long, when I'm not entirely sure if I will return to you," he hid his hands inside his pocket, in a desperate attempt to hide how tightly they were curling into fists. "Maybe, if you moved on... If you found someone who could _actually _be there for you... You..."

"Don't decide that for me."

Shinichi blinked, twice, before turning to focus on the girl. She was frowning, lips pressed and something was shining on her eyes, as if she was resolved to do something he had no idea about.

"It wouldn't be fair if you didn't let _me _choose," she argued. "That's why you haven't been calling me, right? Because you wanted to push me away from your life."

As expected, he didn't reply.

"If _I _want to wait for you, I _will _do it. I don't care if you want me or not," she smiled a bit. "Because I know that you will return, no matter how hard you are trying to convince me otherwise right now."

"But, Ran... You don't understand... I..." Shinichi sighed, heavily. "It's dangerous to be involved with me right now."

"Care to elaborate a bit more?" Shinichi's lack of reply was all she needed to know, so she sighed. "I guessed so."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," she declared. "Even if you don't want to say anything, I will still be there. No matter how dangerous it can be. You can't push me away that easily, Shinichi."

The detective looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't find the right words to say. Instead of that, he shook his head. "You fool," he said, with a rather soft voice that did not match his words, a tiny little smile appearing without him noticing.

"I should get going," he said, taking Conan's glasses out his shirt pocket ─ he had taken them off so the boy wouldn't be so uncomfortable ─ before setting them on top of the table next to Ran's bed. "Before that little imp wakes up and tries to chase me down the street on that monstrosity of a skateboard... Or kicks a soccer ball right at my face, that would actually be much worse."

"You're lucky I can't hit you while in a hospital bed," Ran commented, annoyance lacing her voice. "That's the only reason I'm letting you leave right now."

"I'm aware, thank you."

Finally he leaned over Conan who, somehow, had managed to sleep right through the entire conversation. _He must be exhausted, _Shinichi thought, messing his already sleep-mushed hair more than it already was. He chuckled a bit when he saw Conan's face twisting, mumbling something, incoherently.

It was completely unintelligible, but definitely a complaint of some sort. Shinichi wasn't surprised.

And Ran, who had been watching the interaction between the two brothers, couldn't help but smile brightly. That right there was all proof she needed to say for sure...

_Shinichi is definitely going to come back home one day._

* * *

"I knew you were bad at games, but, wow," Conan's eyebrow instinctively twitched at the sound of Sonoko's voice. "You are _bad, _brat."

The child looked away from the bold, red letters that read '_Game Over' _in the screen so he could give the older girl a murderous glare. "Give me a break," he snapped. "Like _you _are better than me."

To be fair, he hadn't played a game in his entire short life until Mitsuhiko and the others had basically forced him to ─ they had been beyond shocked when he told them, even more than the time he had told them he hadn't watched Kamen Yaiba before, before stealing his phone and downloading a game.

"You know it's downright impossible to be worse than _this,_" she motioned to the Pacman game he had just been playing. He hadn't even passed the first stage.

"Well, _I _wouldn't be this bad if _you _hadn't dropped my phone before I had the chance to practice. It doesn't work properly anymore, you know."

Actually, the real reason Conan didn't have a phone anymore _wasn't _Sonoko's fault.

Conan definitely needed to get a new phone.

There was little reason not to, considering the last one had officially died that day at Aquacrystal. Now he had more of a reason to resent the killer ─ not only he had done so much wrong murdering and attacking innocent people, including taking Ran as a hostage, but he _also _had left him without a phone.

So, for the moment, he had to settle with the stupid looking earring phone Agasa had made, even if Conan had absolutely no clue of why he had made it look like that, considering that he would look pretty weird with these on.

Before Sonoko could say anything in return, they heard Ran giggling. Both of them turned around and saw her looking at the sticker photos they had taken not that long ago. Conan sighed upon the memory of how ridiculous they looked.

These photos were actually the sole reason they had come to this arcade. Sonoko had asked Ran to go, claiming that it was the best opportunity to celebrate her friend's release from the hospital ─ even if Ran highly suspected that Sonoko wanted to take some photos and send them to Kyogoku Makoto, Sonoko's long distance boyfriend.

"_Hey, come on!" _a female voice exclaimed, in English, causing Sonoko and Ran turn around, shocked.

Conan looked at the two girls, blinking at them for a moment, before glancing at their source of astonishment. A blonde woman, who was probably in her late twenties and definitely foreign, playing a shooting game. He watched her clear the game in a matter of seconds, easily getting a high score.

_Amazing, _Conan thought to himself, before turning to the girls, whose mouths hang open, before moving closer to the crowd that gathered behind her. _But why do Ran-neechan and Sonoko-neechan look that shocked?_

"Jodie-sensei!" Ran finally gasped.

"Why are you here, at an arcade?" Sonoko asked, confused.

"Oh, Mouri-san, Suzuki-san!" the woman in question turned around surprised to actually seeing them there.

Conan stared for a bit. _This person right there is their teacher?_

Jodie seemed to deny it, however, as soon as the people around started to wonder the same thing. As they tried to get away, Conan pulled a bit from the hem of Ran's skirt to gather her attention and asked. She giggled a bit at him, then explained that this person was their new English teacher.

"Japanese games are beautiful and exciting!" her Japanese was kind of lacking, even for a foreigner. It was so broken that the child, for a moment, wondered if she was doing it on purpose. "In America, everyone loves Japanese games! There are always long lines to play arcades there. Sometimes you don't even get to play."

"Well, that's true," Conan shrugged, remembering the long lines he would see when passing by a game center when he was five and getting back home from kindergarten. "Not everyone there loves playing games, though."

"More like not everyone _knows _how to play a game, huh?" Sonoko teased.

"Leave me alone."

Jodie blinked a bit, confused at his words, until Ran noticed her puzzlement. "Conan-kun here has lived in America for two years or so."

"_Ah, is that so, boy?"_ she smiled, speaking to him in English. "_So your name is Conan, isn't it?"_

"_Yes," _he replied easily, in the same language. "_My name is Conan Edogawa. Nice to meet you."_

"Oh, your English is wonderful, little one!" she exclaimed, overjoyed, before turning to the other two girls. "Maybe you should learn a thing or two from this boy. Especially you, Suzuki-san."

Ran couldn't help but laugh nervously when she saw Conan giving her best friend a smug grin, to which she replied with a groan and a twitch of her eyebrow. _Not that she hasn't been looking for it, though._

Jodie then asked them to keep her gaming passion a secret from school, to which they agreed. Before Conan knew what was going on, Ran was competing in a game called _Great Fighter Spirit, _and was doing pretty good because of her terrific karate skills. At least, until an arrogant player, Bito Kengo, challenged her and swept the floor with her.

Honestly, Conan didn't understand why people thought that actually feeling pain in a fighting game was exciting. Or the fact that this other player wanted Ran's machine, specifically. There wasn't much difference between them, except for the colour of the helmets they were using.

_Maybe he prefers pink over blue...? _he raised an eyebrow, turning his head towards the screen where a showdown was taking place and away Jodie, who was playing a racing game.

It was Bito against his lifelong rival, Shimizu Takayasu. Bito was winning, punching his opponent again and again without giving him a break. Or so he guessed, because there was no hit-point gauge, making it hard to tell.

Bito's character however stopped moving, right when he was about to defeat his opponent. Time ran out and the match was declared a draw, to everyone's surprise.

Unable to understand the reason, every single person in the arcade looked at the player. One look at him and Conan's face turned in one of horror.

Bito Kengo was dead.

* * *

"My name is Jodie Saintemillion," the teacher said, in her characteristically bad Japanese. "It's nice to meet you."

"_My name is Juzo Megure," _said the inspector, in an equally awful English. "_I am a Japanese policeman."_

"_It's not 'policeman', it's 'policeman'!"_

"Oh, '_policeman'_?"

"_No, no, no. Policeman, okay?"_

"_P-Policeman?"_

Conan couldn't help but blink, cluelessly, as he listened to the ridiculous conversation between the two. _I can't really tell the difference, _his lip twitched, slightly, as he wondered if his English skills were actually _that _bad. _Well, that's not important... I guess, _the child shrugged, moving closer to the body.

It was evident he had been poisoned, so he commented it out loud. "Look," he pointed out. "He looks like he died due to suffocation, but there are no marks on his neck."

Of course, Takagi rushed towards him, raising him on air before setting him back on ground and far away from the corpse. They brushed him off, but at least it got Sonoko thinking.

Silently, Conan was glad that at least she would think twice over the stuff he pointed out.

"But couldn't it have been injected through a needle?" he asked, blinking innocently up at the inspector.

"Wouldn't he have been angry with whoever had done it?" Megure laughed. "Everyone would have noticed him yelling."

Conan hummed. "Would they, really?" he wondered, before turning to Sonoko. "Even if he did, I don't think I would have heard over Sonoko-neechan's loud, annoying voice," he teased. "She usually chatters with Ran-neechan non-stop so that I-"

"Hey, what is that about, shrimp?!" she yelled, angrily.

"There you have it."

"Conan-kun, Sonoko..." Ran tried to get them to stop.

"Well, excuse _me_," Sonoko barked, completely ignoring her friend's wishes. "Listen, my voice was loud because Ran couldn't hear me over..." she trailed off, eyes widening slightly. "... over the sounds of..." she gasped, realization washing over her. "Inspector!"

Megure flinched, stunned, when her head snapped towards her direction. Sonoko then explained that nobody could have tell if he had been pricked because it was usually loud inside a game center, very dark too. Besides the fact that the victim's limbs had to be bound to the game chair to play.

Conan let out a pleased smile, seeing that the case was going smoothly.

He didn't notice the way Jodie's eyes narrowed, piercing right through his head.

And they didn't leave the little boy's form, not even when he seemed to talk with Sonoko ─ with who she had thought he had a rocky relationship, but now seemed to be nice with each other. She watched through it all.

She saw him pointing out there was a weird, metal scratching sound whenever Dejima Hitoshi walked. He saw him telling the same man that his shoelaces were untied, letting Sonoko see something strange on the sole of his shoe. She also heard him complaining that the game was weird because they didn't have a hit-gauge 'like the game Genta had shown him', he had said. It was confusing, he had added, and very hard to tell who was who.

Then Sonoko had gasped, finally understanding the case. The child's smirk didn't take long to appear thereafter, before whispering something on her ear.

Finally, Jodie watched the girl giving out a perfect deduction. The little boy seemed to be the perfect assistant, telling Takagi and Ran to play the game and giving them the instructions that 'Sonoko-neechan had told him.'

Shimizu was declared guilty not long thereafter.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, as they walked back home late in the night. "That was impressive, Sonoko. _Good job!_"

"You were really cool!" Ran praised her.

"You were like Kate Martin."

"Kate?"

"An American female police officer," with a plain voice, Conan answered. "I'm surprised you don't know that, Detective Sonoko-neechan."

Sonoko huffed, looking away and refraining herself for trying to commit child murder right in the spot. Laughing nervously, Ran turned to Jodie, noticing that she had just stopped walking.

She claimed that she would go the other way, so they all said their goodbyes and walked off.

"_Bye bye," _Jodie's lips curved into a dangerous smile. "_Cool Kid."_

A chill ran across Conan's back, causing him to freeze on his spot. Slowly, he craned his neck to look over his shoulder, beads of cold sweat running down his temple.

Jodie Saintemillion was walking away, her back becoming smaller and smaller with each step.

"Conan-kun?" he blinked twice, before looking at Ran, who stood a few feet ahead of him. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

With a hopefully convincing smile, he skipped ahead to catch up with the girls. It seemed like they had bought it, because they didn't say anything else, content to just chatter with each other about things he couldn't care less about.

So, giving a last look at the teacher behind him, he let out a long sigh before directing his gaze ahead of him.

_That English teacher... _

_She's kind of weird._

* * *

"Like I have been telling you," Shinichi sighed from the other side of the phone. "You can't go play a fighting game just like that. Not with your leg like that!"

"My leg is perfectly fine," Ran reassured him, giggling a bit. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Idiot, I'm not worried. It just that Conan would feel terrible if something happened to you."

The girl rolled her eyes and continued teasing her not-boyfriend for another few minutes until he declared that he needed to go somewhere else. Even after the call was finished, Ran gazed at her phone, with a smile on her face, genuinely glad that the deduction freak had decided to pick the phone up, for once and for all.

"Ran-neechan?" the girl looked up, surprised to see Conan standing in her doorway.

"Conan-kun?" she blinked, absolutely confused. "What's wrong? I thought you had gone to bed already."

The way the boy seemed to shift uncomfortably and fix his gaze at the floor made the girl wonder. If this was any other child, she would have thought he had nightmares and was seeking comfort. _This _probably wasn't the case.

"Do you..." he began, his voice incredibly soft. "Do you still have Shinichi-niichan's gift with you?"

_Ah, _Ran blinked a bit, until a small smile blossomed on her face. _Ah! So that was it._

"Ran-neechan?"

"I'm so sorry!" she said, turning around and shuffling through her drawers for some reason. "I thought you didn't want it so I threw it away the other day."

Conan's shoulders defleated a bit. "Ah, is that so?" he forced a smile with his eyes closed. "It doesn't matter then."

When he opened them, however, he found himself face to face with the blue box he had been searching for. One look at Ran's sheepish grin and he realized she had been teasing him.

So, he gave her a glare.

"Sorry, sorry," she apologized. "You were so nervous when you asked about it that I couldn't help myself."

Without him noticing, a childish pout appeared on his features as he took the gift from her hands, closing the door behind him while refusing to say anything else.

Ran couldn't help but giggle a tiny bit.

_He's so cute._

Meanwhile, Conan closed the door to his room, feeling honestly glad that Kogoro was out playing mahjong, leaving him alone with the gift on his hands.

He eyed the box for a bit, before exhaling deeply. _I won't run away anymore, _his hands gently pulled the paper away. _I won't run away from my own feelings._

Determination glimmering on his bright blue eyes, the child finally opened the box.

_Is this...?_

He was met with the sight of a red, new phone. Not blinking for a while, he took it between his hands and stared.

_Well, this is useful._

So with a bright smile on his face, he turned it on, only to realize it had already been configured for him. There was no doubt on his mind of who could have done it.

_Oh, he even registered some contacts._

There was Ran, Agasa, his parents... He guessed he might have to add his friends as well later on...

_Wait a minute, _then, he paused.

Shinichi's contact wasn't anywhere. He couldn't have forgotten about himself, could he?

Then, it dawned on him.

_That idiot, _he sighed, exasperated, as he ran out the room.

"Ran-neechan!" the girl was startled when the child burst inside her room so suddenly. Before she could react and ask what was wrong, he continued. "Could you give me Shinichi-niichan's phone number?"

"... Eh?"

* * *

Like one of many nights, Kudo Shinichi lay awake on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling above. Having finished talking with Ran not that long ago, his mind would, without fully meaning to, constantly wonder about the little child that was living with her.

Ran had told him that Conan was perfectly fine, and visually more cheerful than he had been for the last few months.

Glancing at the window for a bit, he couldn't help the soft smile, laced with nostalgia, appearing on his face. _You have finally moved on, right? _he thought. _I'm glad for you, Conan._

_... I really am._

Just as he was about to roll into his back so he could try to get some sleep, he heard his phone blaring, loudly, causing him to jump, startled.

"Hey!" the person in the room next to his shouted. "Some people are trying to get some sleep, you know!"

Rolling his eyes, annoyed, he grabbed his phone. His finger hovered over the 'reply' button, until his gaze fell on the screen.

_"Unknown Caller"_

_What the...?_

Shinichi froze in place, his heart pounding in his chest ─ this time around it was _not _the poison ─ and mind running and running wondering.

_What if it is them? Did they find me?_

_What do I do? Where can I go to escape?_

_... Wait, why would they call me in the first place? I would be dead if..._

"For goodness sake, Kudo!"

"Shut up!" he growled. "This is... This is pretty serious..."

"Huh?" the person paused. "Wait, is it...?"

"Shh, I'm picking up."

"Wait, Kudo!"

He picked up anyway. After pressing the button, he gave out a shaky breath, in a feeble attempt to compose himself before, ever so slowly, pressing the device against his ear.

"Yes?" despite everything, he managed to keep his voice even.

"You are an idiot," Shinichi couldn't help but gasp, shocked, when he heard that _very _familiar young voice. "If you aim to make me think you're the spawn of Satan himself, try not to act like a complete mother-hen the next time you see me."

"... C-Conan?" he whispered, in quiet shock, so the person on the other side of his wall ─ who was most likely trying to listen to his conversation ─ wouldn't hear. "Why are you...?"

"I just wanted to call you an idiot, as I have just stated."

Shinichi sighed. "I still don't understand what you're talking about."

"It took me a while, but I realized it. Whether I like it or not, you and I are so similar," he could basically see him smirking. "You wanted to make me hate you, didn't you?"

Shinichi's mouth opened to speak, but no sound came out.

"You want me to stay away as far as possible. In order to do that, you basically portrayed yourself as a heartless murderer and stopped calling altogether," the child continued, serious as if he was giving out a deduction. Which he basically was, anyway. "As a proof of that, your number isn't registered on this phone. You thought I would despise you so much that I would never try to call you, therefore I wouldn't need your contact anymore."

"Listen, Conan," the teen tried to explain. "I don't know what you have convinced yourself about, but I haven't said a single lie to you back then."

"True," he conceded. "But someone out there said something to me, and I think it really applies to this situation..."

"What is it?"

"Not everything is as it seems."

The high school detective did not say anything in return, just stayed there, in silence, picturing his little brother's wide grin that surely was in his face right now. Then, he released a long sigh.

"Is that so?" an amused smile crossed his face. "I would like to see you prove it, child detective."

"Of course I will. Just wait for it."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, letting himself fall back into his bed, phone still on his ear. _I hope this turns out okay, _he couldn't help but worry. Knowing Conan, once challenged he would do anything until he accomplished his goal.

"By the way," the high schooler spoke up, calmer than before and definitely curious. "Why is your caller ID masked?"

"I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me if you knew it was me. You have already registered this phone's number in yours, didn't you?"

"Heh, sharp as always."

"Obviously."

"Way to give me heart palpitations, though."

Eventually the call was finished, and Shinichi found himself smiling, tenderly gazing at the phone on his hands. It didn't last long, however, because he was soon dragged away from his stupor when the door to of his room gradually creaked open.

A teenage boy appeared from behind it. There was worry etched on his face.

"So, who was it?"

"Ah, sorry. False alarm," Shinichi apologized. "Let's just say... It was a friend of mine."

"Ah, was it your girlfriend again?"

"Like I said, she isn't my girlfriend. Besides, it wasn't her."

"Oh? So who was it?"

Shinichi looked back at the window and sighed. "Someone very irritating yet equally important to me at the same time."

"Eh~? So you are seeing two people at the same time? You cheater."

"Hey, cut it, Shinichi groaned, genuinely disgusted at the idea. "You know is not _that._"

The teenager stared at the detective for a bit, before shrugging and leaving the room, yawning as he did that. Shinichi paid no mind, feeling as his smile grew even wider.

_It should be okay._

* * *

A/N:

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: For now, all Conan knows is that he got kidnapped and saved by Shinichi, shooting him in the process. Hopefully, all of this will make more sense in the future.

Asahina Chihaya: I'm not enterely sure if I'll write them, as much as I love those movies, but I will see. Chris Vineyard and Sharon Vineyard will, most likely, be the same person just like in canon. For all other questions, sorry, I can't really tell you anything at the moment!

Dy: No, Shinichi didn't use a fake name, because I think it wouldn't make sense for them not to know it's him considering he is such a famous detective and everything... I have a reason for why his parents are still okay and, hopefully, it will make sense in the future XD

Gamergail: Eisuke is definitely going to appear in this story since I will cover those chapters that are revelant to the story. That means, however, that I, most likely, won't cover any AO episodes. As for the days I plan to update... I don't really have a fixed schedule, since I often publish one chapter when I finish writing another one. That typically happens every three to four days, but that number is bound to change over time.

ajjr12: I have already planned how Ran and everyone else is going to find out about Conan's incidence on their deductions. It might be awhile until that happens, though.


	38. Living in Fear

**File Thirty-Eight: Living in Fear**

"What?!" Conan screamed in the middle of the bus.

Every single passenger, including his friends, turned around to stare at him, causing the child to blush a bit, before turning back to the phone, speaking more softly this time.

"What do you mean Kato Momoka-san was declared dead?"

"That's what they said at the hospital," Heiji let out a sigh. "Her co-workers told me they had found a suicide letter in her lover's desk. Days later they discovered her shoes in a cliff next to the sea. Her body hasn't been found yet."

Conan's eyes narrowed. "It's weird to think she would do that considering she was so determined to find the truth behind Tanaka-sensei's death."

"True, but we don't have any proof yet. I'll try to ask around a bit more, but..."

"Ah, now that you are at it, could you please do something for me?"

"Huh?"

"Try to get some information about Watanabe-sensei. Anything. Weird quirks, habits, birthmarks, scars..."

"Oh? Do you have any leads?"

"Nothing like that. It's just a hunch."

He heard Hattori chuckling at the other side of the phone and, somehow, Conan could tell there currently was an amused smirk drawn on the Osakan detective.

"Alright, got it," Heiji finally said. "I have got so much work in my hands, so I have to hang up on you. Have fun in your skiing trip."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Keep yourself out of trouble, alright?"

Once the call was finished, Conan released a long sigh, that spoke of the current exhaustion he was feeling, as he rested his back against his seat, eyes focused on the cars that passed by the bus from the window at his side.

"Well, you look troubled," he couldn't help but let out another sigh, laced with annoyance this time, at the sound of the girl's voice, who sat right next to him. "I thought you have completely given up on Singani's case."

"Yeah, but I'm taking it up again," he simply replied, nonchalantly. "It is weird, though. You still haven't nagged me about 'being in denial' and all that stuff you love to shove in my face."

"I was just pointing out the obvious," she replied, not batting an eye. "If I'm not saying anything right now it is because, for once, you are actually using that brilliant brain of yours to obtain the truth, not to run away from it."

"Should I take this as a compliment?"

"Definitely not. Not when it took you _months _to reach this stage."

Conan huffed, crossing his arms behind his head. "You know, this could've been much easier if you just told me what is going on, instead of playing the role of the mystery young lady."

"Oh?" a smirk blossomed on her face. "I thought you were attracted to mysteries."

Her eyebrow raised a little when the little boy's eyes widened a bit, opening his mouth then closing instantly, before fixing his gaze back to the window. Giggling a bit, she noticed his ears were red, so it wasn't hard to guess the current colour of his face.

"Kudo-kun," she shook her head, with a sigh. "I meant the mystery behind Singani."

"Oh," he jumped at that, not turning to face her yet. "I knew that."

_... Boys are so immature._

Shrugging she glanced towards the rest of her friends, her amused smile not leaving her face as she watched the three children scold Professor Agasa for pushing himself so hard when having a terrible cold ─ apparently, he had stayed up until late watching videos to learn how to ski.

_I wish, _she gazed at them with a tender smile, before looking back ahead. Conan was glancing at her, the remains of the blush that had just attacked his cheeks still present, and looking hesitant about something. As if he wanted to ask her something more about his brother, but didn't want to risk embarrassing himself again.

_I wish I could just stay here, with everyone. _

_Just like an ordinary elementary school girl._

"Then," she heard the boy say, after taking a moment to compose himself. "What is the _real _reason you haven't said anything?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"In most cases, yeah, you need one."

Haibara crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I didn't think it was my place," she replied. "Shinichi-san wouldn't be happy if I just messed with his family matters. I wouldn't, at least, if I was in his shoes."

"You sound like you knew my brother well."

She shrugged. "You could say that."

Conan was about to say something else when he stopped, frozen as his eyes dilated from surprise, at the sight of something. Haibara followed his gaze with her own and noticed he was staring at an old man making his way to the seat in the back.

He was dressed all in black, so she supposed that was the reason he was suddenly that alarmed.

"Wrong," she whispered to him, with a monotone voice. "They have a scent. A scent all of them carry-"

"I don't smell anything on you."

At the sight of the boy next to her grabbing her arm so he could sniff, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Would you please stop?" Haibara sighed, as if she was resigned to share a seat with such an idiot.

"But seriously, how can you _smell _them?"

"I just do."

"Are you secretly a dog or something?"

"Are _you?_" she raised an eyebrow, clearly referring to the fact that _he _was the one sniffing her up until a few seconds ago.

"But wait," he ignored her question. "Why didn't you sense anything from Pisco?"

"I suspected him from the beginning," she stated. "But I wasn't positive. There was someone else there..." her eyes narrowed at the memory. "Right, someone with a stronger scent than Pisco. Someone with a scent that terrifies me."

"More than Gin?"

"That's hard to tell. They both are-"

A gasp escaped from her lips before she could help herself, causing Conan to give her a questioning look because of her reaction to whatever she had just felt. Blood suddenly drained from her face and her hands, now shaking badly, tugged the red jacket she was wearing closer to her.

"...K-Kudo-kun," Conan now was a bit concerned. He had never seen Haibara _this _terrified. "Switch seats with me so I can hide... Please!"

Because of the urgency on her voice, he didn't even argue, just changed seats with her as soon as possible. Without even wasting a second in saying 'thanks' to him, the girl pulled her red hoodie over her head and just sat there. Still as a statue and eerily silent.

_Did she just perceive that 'scent' she has been talking about?_

_That means..._

His eyes narrowed, looking at the people that were getting up in the bus they were in.

_One of them..._

_One of them is part of the Black Organization._

"Ah, it's Araide-sensei!" Ayumi's excited voice caused the boy to look up.

Indeed, he saw Doctor Araide smiling at the little girl as she moved closer to them. Dimly he remembered having met him before at a checkup on their school.

... Come to think of it, Haibara had been absent that day, hadn't she?

_"Hi," _from behind Araide a head popped out, badly startling Conan. _"Boys and girls!"_

"Jodie-sensei?" he managed through his shock.

"Oh, Cool Kid," the child silently wondered when and how he had gotten that title. "We meet again."

Agasa looked at the kid, confused, so he just told him she was Ran's English teacher, before she introduced herself with a smile and claimed she was on a date with Doctor Araide. Of course, he quickly denied it.

They sat right in front of them. By the corner of his eye, he saw Haibara letting her face fall forward, making it impossible for anyone to see anything but her fists, which clenched on top her lap.

A man passed by them and Conan couldn't help give him a glance. Black hair peeked out from a knit cap and his mouth was covered by a facemask. Despite of the bags under his green eyes that caused him to appear sleep deprived, there was something on his gaze that made Conan feel a bit wary of him. His look was piercing, and even a bit evil.

Without even making eye contact, he sat on the backseat, between the man in black from before and a woman, who was chewing some gum.

"Hey, look ahead," he heard Genta say. "Up there! They're ready to ski, it seems!"

True to his words, two men, dressed in ski clothes ─ they had their goggles on and everything ─ stood in the corridor, carrying a big bag each. Conan initially guessed their skis were inside.

But that thought vanished into nothing at the instant they took out something he would recognize anywhere. "Everyone stop!" one of them pulled out a gun, waving it around. "We've taken control of this bus!"

Conan felt the air freezing on his lungs, watching as one of the bus jackers threatened all passengers with his gun. _Calm down, _he willed himself to take a deep breath, in an attempt to compose himself. _This is not the time to start panicking._

It shouldn't be surprising if, after everything that had happened at Aquacrystal and the repressed memories that that particular event brought out, he pretty much didn't want to see a gun ever again. But those people had one each, so, he guessed, he needed to bear with it if he wanted to get everyone out, alive.

He closed his eyes, tightly, when the criminal made a warning shot. Trying his hardest not to let his fear show, he opened them again and glanced towards Haibara.

She was still terrified. Conan could tell, however, that her fear had nothing to do with these criminals.

The bus started moving, after one of them threatened the driver with placing a bullet on his skull. When his partner asked for every single phone on the vicinity, the boy gave it up without so much of a struggle. _It's okay, _he thought to himself, his hand curling around the earring cellphone inside his pocket. _It's not like I have no way to communicate._

Once they stopped moving, they forced the driver to call the station. As it turned out, they demanded a prisoner, Yashima Kunio, to be released immediately, warning that they would kill a hostage each other until they did.

Conan recognized that name as he had read it in the news not that long ago. Yunio the leader of a robbery group, caught when they attacked a jewelry store with a bomb. His three partners had managed to run away.

Another shot made him jump, startling him out of his thoughts. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the woman with the chewing gum sitting, still as a statue and pale as a ghost, with a hole burned on the seat a few inches from her arm.

"Aah!"

Next thing he knew, the criminal was on the ground and the ambient was silent. Jodie, the one that had accidentally tripped him ─ at this point, Conan couldn't really be sure if it was an accident, though ─ remained unaware, until Araide prodded her with his arm.

She blinked twice, right as the man was standing up, turning around to glare at her. "_Oh! Sorry!" _the teacher reacted, rushing towards the criminal and resting her hands on top of the gun, pressing it against her chest, as she profusely apologized at him. "_Oh my God! What have I done?"_

Pissed off by her, he whisked the gun away from her grasp before yelling at her to get back on her seat. As she did that, she looked at the child from over her shoulder and winked at him. He could only let out a dry chuckle in response.

The bus continued moving, in silence for an unknown amount of time, in which Conan's eyes hadn't left the criminals. At one point, they both were talking to the driver, their back facing the hostages and the child, naively, thought they couldn't see him.

_I need to tell Inspector Megure about this, _like so, he took out the miniature phone from his pocket.

Yet, he didn't even press a single button before he looked up. Wide, confused eyes blinked at the person who now stood in front of him, whose face twisted in a scowl

"What are you doing?!"

Conan didn't even have the time to feel fear before the criminal grabbed his shirt, pulling him up with it and threw him into the floor. His little phone had fallen as well, he barely noticed as he landed painfully on his back.

"Hey, brat! If you try anything else, you won't be forgiven," he picked up the gadget that lied in front of his feet. "As for this, I'll be taking it."

Groaning a bit, he sat up, just in time for Ayumi to rush over, frantically checking over him. "I'm fine, Ayumi-san," he offered the girl a tiny smile. "Go back to your seat."

Shakingly nodding, his friend went back to her place beside the professor as he stood up. _How did he...? _he wondered, eyes narrowed at the criminal that had returned to his previous position. _No matter how hard I think about it, there is absolutely no way he could've seen me, _then, he glanced over the three people sitting at the backseat. _Now that I think about it, there were three members besides the leader, right?_

Going back to his seat, and glancing at the people on the backseat, the kid realized it. One of these three had snitched on him.

* * *

Hattori Heiji's eyes did not leave the notepad in his hands, even as he walked outside the hospital he had already visited far more times than the one in his hometown, ─ and that was saying a lot, since he would constantly get in trouble ─ writing the last few words he had heard before he forgot them. Once finished, he leaned against the wall and observed his notes.

_Cheerful, a bit too soft, single, an excellent sight and has a nasty scar along his leg from when he was a child, _Heiji sighed. _Now, why did that kid want to know all that random stuff?_

Suddenly tired, exhausted as if he had suddenly aged fifty years, he took his phone from his pocket. _What is going through his mind, really? At this point, shouldn't we be looking into Kato-han's case instead? _he was about to type the kid's number.

But then, he paused. _Why, though? _Heiji frowned, as he immersed himself on his own thoughts. _Why did it took them so much time to try and erase the evidence? Why did they keep Kato-han alive for so long? If they knew about her, she would have been shot the same day Tanaka-sensei died..._

His hand went to his chin. _Are they getting messy? No, that can't be it._

Not finding an answer to his questions, he decided to leave them for another moment. He glanced back at the phone, Conan's number staring back at him from the screen.

Then, he shrugged. _I will phone him later. He was going to a skiing trip with his friends, wasn't he? _he decided. _The kid had been through so much lately. _

_He deserves to relax a little bit every once in a while._

* * *

Conan was tense.

From what he had heard, the police had decided to release the criminal they had been asking for and the criminals told them that they would release three hostages once their leader had confirmed this by himself.

But he couldn't bring himself to believe a single word from those people.

That was the reason he currently was crouched down beside the ski bags they had lined up vertically on the ground. Ever so slowly his hand moved closer to one of them, hoping to find anything else but what he believed he would.

He didn't get to see anything but the muzzle of a gun in front of his head. "You again?!" the criminal yelled and Conan felt his entire body tensing, then shaking lightly when the coldness of the weapon made contact with his forehead. "If you want to die this badly, I'll grant you your wish."

Conan struggled to keep his breathing even, and the terror from showing on his eyes.

"Boy, stand up!"

Not paying attention as his friends and Agasa screamed his name, Conan slowly got on his feet, gaze still fixed on the criminal, refusing to even glance at the gun on his hand. If he did, he honestly thought he would lose his composure.

His view got blocked, however, when Araide suddenly jumped in front of him. "Please stop!" he shouted, a tint of desperation seeping on his voice. "He is just a curious child! They met your demand. Wouldn't it ruin your plan if you killed one of us now?"

Angered by his interruption, the gun was now pointed at Araide's forehead, who just stood there, unmoving. He would have been shot him right there if it wasn't for the criminal's partner.

"What if the bullet hits one of the bags?" he whispered to him.

Yet, Conan still heard. That was the confirmation he needed to know that, yes, those bags actually contained bombs. _I really need to figure out who out of those three in the back is their partner..._

"Hey, Haibara-san, I could really use your help here," he whispered to his friend, before noticing he didn't even get a reply. "Hey-"

Then he saw her. Haibara's terrified expression hadn't vanished, yet only became more evident. Sweat was dripping from her very pale face, her hands curled into fists, resting on her legs. Her breathing, he noticed, was becoming more ragged at the second.

_T-This... What is this pressure? _that was the only thing that occupied her mind. _It's the pressure from before. It's her. She's on this bus!_

_Is she with the Organization? Is she after me? Is it a coincidence...?_

_If she finds out who I am... If she finds out I betrayed the Organization..._

_Then everyone... _

_The Professor, Yoshida-san, Tsuburaya-kun, Kojima-kun, Kudo-kun... _

_Every single one of them..._

Her eyes closed, tightly, silently praying to whatever deity was out there.

_Please... Please! Don't let her find me!_

Upon noticing she had started to shake for some reason, Conan naturally worried. "Haibara-san..." he tried to get her to talk.

But another voice joined in:

"Don't take too many risks, Cool Kid."

For some reason, Haibara's breath hitched at that. Conan noticed that, but didn't understand, so he blinked confused eyes to Jodie.

"You will get your chance," Jodie winked at him, before noticing the girl in red, who just sat there, in silence and staring at the floor, away from the gazes of everyone else. "Oh, everything will be fine! Everything will be over soon."

The boy looked back at Haibara, wondering what was happening to her, before directing his gaze back at Jodie.

He felt it then. Her sweaty hand resting on top of his, clenching so tightly that, for a moment, Conan wondered if she would broken any bone had she held on with a bit more force.

"_What's your name, Little Red Riding Hood?" _asked Jodie, with a kind smile on her face.

The boy watched her grimacing even more at being addressed, and felt her grip on his hand tightening even more, if possible.

"She's just a girl a met on the bus," Conan said to the teacher, an innocent expression plastered on his face, before he leaned forward a bit, whispering. "She's also really scared. Could you not talk to her?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

The man screamed at them to keep quiet, and Conan mentally sighed, almost relieved that her attention was off Haibara. At least, until she turned around and smiled. "_Let's talk about it later."_

_Let's not._

Without any further word, she sat back. Her eyes narrowed as she stole a glance at the two children sitting behind him.

She saw Little Red Riding Hood clenching his hand, just for Cool Kid to actually squeeze back. A gentle smile was on his face as he whispered some words to her, which Jodie couldn't hear.

It was thanks to a random girl in the street that had lost her pink balloon that Conan figured out who the third member was. The next second, he had already brew together a plan to make their escape. Meanwhile, Doctor Araide and the man with the knit cap were called, ordered to move to the front of the bus.

Jodie barely paid attention to the young man, who had been sitting beside her through the whole ordeal, standing up. She just picked up a notepad that had hit the back of her leg and opened it.

Her eyes narrowed at the written message that Cool Kid had passed her:

_"Do you have lipstick?"_

So, without thinking about it twice, the teacher passed him her lipstick.

Watching Conan smirking after receiving it and pulling out a badge, Vermouth smirked

_Where can your lipstick bring us?_

_Show me your magic, Cool Kid._

Soon, they entered a tunnel and the hijacker pointed at Araide and the other man with his gun, while the other kept his weapon firm in place against the driver's head, after telling them to change into a ski gear. The plan, or so they were told, was to escape as the released hostages while they remained inside, pretending to be the criminals.

In order to pressure the driver to cooperate, they pretended to choose a hostage. _Oh, that's surprising, _thought Conan, sarcastically, as they picked the woman with the chewing gum. Yet he said nothing, just watched the woman moving closer to them and couldn't help but noticing the watch on her wrist. It was stuck in a single number: _01:00_.

The realization of what it implied prompted Conan to act faster.

If they used this darkness in their favour, so would he. As discreetly as he could, he relied his plan to the rest of the Detective Boys. "The instant this bus leaves the tunnel..." he declared. "... we do it."

Speeding up as the bus began to get out the tunnel, sunlight illuminated the entire place. The criminals, now dressed up in civilian clothes, smirked to each other, confident that their plan was going smoothly.

So, one of them assured the driver that he, and all the passengers, would live as long as he cooperated.

"I don't think so," the child from before begged to differ, it seemed. "Aren't you planning to kill everyone on this bus after you get off?"

"What are you talking about, brat?!"

"Oh, you aren't?" Conan blinked, innocently, before an arrogant smirk crossed his face. Then, with the help of Agasa, he held bag over their heads. "Then, what is this bomb for?"

The two criminals panicked. One of them instantly pointed the gun at them while the other screamed him not to shoot, which only made Conan's argument more valid. As they discussed, they couldn't help but notice there was something written on it with red lipstick.

When the driver looked up through the rear mirror, he gasped.

"_STOP"_

The bus skidded to a stop right after that, as the driver stepped on the brakes all of sudden. As a result, the three criminals were knocked off their feet by the momentum, while Ayumi rushed over the old man from the back to remain upright, and the other two went for the bomb on the ground. Agasa and Conan grabbed on the one in their hands like dear life.

Conan took off running to the front the moment the bus stopped moving, successfully shooting a dart to the guy holding a gun to his face. The man with the knit hat just stared, slightly surprised, when the criminal he was about to hit just dropped into the floor, for no apparent reason.

"Araide-sensei!" the child shouted. "Restrain that woman's arms!"

The doctor blinked.

"Her watch is the switch to the bombs!"

The moment his words dawned on him, Araide turned around and did as he was told.

He didn't have much time to celebrate, because he saw the other hijacker facing him and pointing him with a gun, causing the boy to freeze in place, unsure of what to do. Before he could even worry about the fact that he didn't have any needle left on his wristwatch, a knee on the criminal's stomach caused him to groan, knocking the air off his lungs in the process.

Conan could only watch as Jodie elbowed him with such strength that brought the criminal down, who tried to shoot at her, only to realize he somehow had the security on. "Oh!" then she grinned. "You surrender?"

_Definitely. That English teacher is definitely weird._

He couldn't even ponder about it any longer, because the woman Araide was restraining suddenly screamed, pleading to being let go.

"I must have hit the switch when the driver stopped the bus!"

Naturally, everyone started running outside the bus at the instant, puzzling Officer Sato for a moment, who was keeping guard on the door, until she was told about the bomb. Her expression grew serious at the instant, running away from the bomb as well, barking orders to the rest of the officers that were with her.

Conan didn't pay attention to any of that, just focused on keeping on running before the bomb would explode, taking every single of their lives away in the process.

But then he heard Ayumi's voice and he swore his heart dropped to his stomach:

"Where is Haibara-san?!"

Wide eyes looked over his shoulder, focusing on the bus that got more and more away from him with each step he took. _She didn't..._

"_So, you ran away?" _in his memories, he could see her. She was there, hands together behind her back, looking down at him with her ever piercing blue eyes, looking as if she could see everything that was going through his heart.

At the instant he was sitting up on Agasa's couch, shooting something back at her that he didn't remember at the moment. That wasn't important. _This _was important.

_Who is running away now? _

"C-Conan-kun?! Where are you going?!"

_You big idiot!_

* * *

Inside the bus, Haibara Ai sat on the seat, unmoving as she had been the entire time the criminals had hijacked the bus. As quiet as she had been, even in the midlist of screams and the ruckus that Conan had caused a few seconds ago.

This time around, the was all alone. For one part, she should have been glad she was, considering that the scent that had terrified her so much was now completely gone. Another part of her heart, however, ached for company. The three children, Professor Agasa, Conan...

They all were outside this bus, running away from this bus to save their lives, like any of them would have said she should.

"_We will get out of this bus before they even realize you are here,"_ he still could hear Conan's gentle voice whispering at her, as he squeezed her hand back, doing his best to comfort her. "_I promise."_

_I'm sorry, Kudo-kun. _

_This is the best way. Even if I got away from her today, we would meet again at the inquiry._

_If I go away now, everyone's only link to the Organization will be gone._

Knees pressed against each other and hands clenching on top of them, she couldn't help the nostalgic smile crossing her face.

_I knew it then. When I fled from the Organization, I knew they would never just let me go._

_But still... _her eyes watered a little bit. _I was foolish... Wasn't I foolish... Onee-chan?_

Even so, she still felt a bit guilty. Her sister had given up everything to allow her to live a normal life. She had even given up her life for her, even if her plan hadn't worked out.

... Yet, she hadn't been the only one.

"_Why?" _she remembered herself shouting, completely astonished by his actions. "_Why are you...?"_

"_Because you have to live, Shiho-chan."_

_Shinichi-san, I'm sorry. I'm throwing away this precious life you have given me._

_But you must understand..._

_Living in fear... is not living at all._

Just as she thought that her life would be over, a fire extinguisher whizzed right past her ear. A shattering sound followed not long thereafter, before a hand latched on her arm, pulling her on her feet before she could react.

She only managed to see a blur of blue before arms curled around her body, protectively, and an explosion sound ran through her ears. The next second she was rolling on the ground, a safe distance away from the bus.

A hand kept her head from looking up, but she didn't need it to know who was holding her. _Kudo-kun, _she thought, in shock, as the boy seemed to, discreetly as always, smear her leg with his own blood, since his arm had been injured.

The voices of their friends, and from Takagi, filled the silence.

"This girl is hurt," he managed to rely to Takagi between gasps. "Take her to the hospital with the Professor and the others."

"... Eh?"

"I'll go there on my own!"

Because he had insisted so much with such a serious expression on his face, the police detective agreed. Before they knew it, he had carried Haibara towards the car, who didn't speak a word throughout it all.

Before the door closed, the girl gathered the courage to gaze into Conan's piercing eyes.

"Don't run, Haibara-san," it was as if he could _see _right through her heart. "Don't run away from fate."

She didn't reply, just stared back at him until she couldn't see him anymore. Conan stepped aside as the car drove away to the hospital, disappearing from his sight in no time.

Only then, he allowed himself to let his shoulders drop and a sigh of relief escape from his lips. His arm still hurt a lot, and he might need to see a doctor soon ─ very soon, if Doctor Araide caught him first.

Yet, none of those mattered. Because he _knew_.

Everything would be okay.

_I swear that girl is going to be the death of me._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: All I can say to answer your question is that it will happen soon. As for your idea, it's quite an interesting one. I might take it into in consideration if I write that movie.

Gamelover41592: No, I don't think I will. Maybe one or two more, but not every single one because this story would be much longer than it already is going to be XD

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Only time will tell XD

Dy: I was wondering who Eichi was supposed to be, lol! But, yeah, Amuro and the Akai family are definitely going to appear sooner or later. And, sadly, I don't know if I will do the police officers' love stories, as much as I love those episodes...

Gamergail: Yeah, I don't think he's going to appear. Unless he _is_ in a case that's actually important to the plot and that I'm not remembering at the moment. Even _if_ he does appear, however, I don't think it will be more than a brief mention, though.


	39. The Name is Arthur

**File Thirty-Nine: The Name is Arthur**

Arthur.

He was called Arthur.

This freaking _dog _was called Arthur.

"Then," Ayumi smiled, patting the shiba inu on the head. "If he partners up with Conan-kun-"

"Please," Conan groaned before the girl could even finish talking. "Please don't finish that sentence, Ayumi-chan."

Even if the girl didn't seem to mind, just offering him a brief apology before her attention returned to the dog, the other two boys definitely did. Raising an eyebrow, the little detective glared back at them, as if he was _daring _them to say something about it.

He was annoyed, but he figured this time this should be expected. Having been named after the same author a dog had also been was more than a bit degrading. Or so he believed.

The sound of the front gate brought him off their thoughts. Agasa smiled at the son of his friend ─ the owner of the dog, Kanou Teruya ─ as he made his way in, Haibara silently trailing behind.

The girl was awfully quiet, and it shouldn't be _that _surprising. The events from a few days still lingered in Conan's mind, and he couldn't help but think that the same was the case with her.

Her expression changed, however, when the dog suddenly seemed to become hostile and began to bark at them, showing the pair his teeth. She backed away, hiding behind Agasa, until his owner calmed him down. He seemed to be confused about his suddenly dangerous behavior, so Conan helpfully explained that Agasa and Haibara had most likely petted a male, bigger dog ─ a doberman, the professor confirmed.

Arthur had most likely caught the scent of that doberman and saw them as an enemy.

"Ah, that was the reason," Ayumi said.

"You're really stupid," Genta told the dog.

"I guess he and Conan-kun may have a little bit of the same thoughtless personality," Mitsuhiko pointed out.

"Hey!" the boy complained, loudly. "From this entire group, I'm definitely _not _the one that-"

"Tell that to the gun scar on your stomach," Genta crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Or the wound on your arm from when you ran inside the bus the other day," Mitsuhiko did the same.

"Or the-" Ayumi was about to join as well.

"Alright, alright. I _am _thoughtless. Happy?"

"Very," the three said at the same time.

Conan glared at that, opening his mouth to say something else when he noticed Haibara smirking at his side. "A dangerous person who is not his friend," she spoke. "In my case, he may not have been mistaken."

"Haibara-san..." Conan trailed off.

"Just kidding."

The boy frowned a bit, well aware that she definitely hadn't said such a thing as a joke, but decided not to press her any further, hoping that this would be the last dark comment she would do for that day.

At least, until they met Doyle.

_Doyle... _Conan's eyebrow twitched. ... _Doyle is a papillon dog._

"Tell me there isn't a poodle called Conan or something," the child muttered under his breath.

"No, but the shepherd my father used to have was named Conan. He died two years ago, however, due to an illness."

Okay, that didn't really make him feel any better. At all.

As the adults conversed ─ namely Agasa, Kanou and another two people called Tsunashima Yoshio and Tosabayashi Aki ─ Doyle was set on Haibara's arms. Conan's glance strayed away from the men and to the enigmatic girl, whose eyes stared at the dog she was holding, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Say," Ayumi smiled. "Why don't you choose something too, Haibara-san?"

The reason they were there, after all, was that Kanou was giving his belongings away before moving to England.

"You don't get an opportunity like this every day," Mitsuhiko added.

"There are many cool things here!" Genta agreed.

Haibara just stared at them for a few seconds before focusing back on the dog. "I guess," she said, softly. "In that case, I think I'll take this dog."

It was obvious she wasn't serious, but there was a small smile on her face that caused Conan to believe, for an instant, that she was feeling a bit better.

"If I'm killed like Marie was, and when the dew on the guillotine vanishes, he will drown himself in the Seine river like Marie's dog, Thisbe did, following me in death," she smiled brightly, cuddling with the animal. "Right?"

The dog was suddenly whisked away from her hands. "Definitely not," said Conan, keeping Doyle away from her, a blank look on his eyes. "I fear what this dog's life could become if you get your hands on him."

"Can't you get a joke from once?" she replied, with a sigh.

Conan said nothing, just narrowed his eyes as he watched his friends whispering to each other, and the adults changed the topic of their conversation. Only when the attention was away from them, the child moved closer to her.

"That was not a joke," he whispered at her.

"You're not thinking Doyle is actually going to drown himself in a river belonging to an entirely different continent, right?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," he pressed further. "The Professor told me you haven't left your house ever since the bus incident."

Haibara simply looked away, but Conan knew what she was thinking about at the moment. _She is scared, _he couldn't help but notice. _Even if Inspector Takagi assured me the other day that there weren't any unidentifiable people, she still firmly believes there was one of them in there._

"You know, even if there _was _one of them there, your identity is still safe."

It had been ten days ever since after all. Conan was pretty sure she ─ and everyone else─ would be dead by now if they had figured out who she was.

Seeing no reaction from the girl, Conan let out a long, defeated sigh, deciding that it might be best if he just let go. He still hoped against hope, however, that this girl would see the reason behind his words.

* * *

When Kuroba Kaito was called to the principal's office, he wasn't actually _that _surprised. As a matter of fact, nobody in his entire classroom was. So, folding his arms behind his head, he strolled through the halls, wondering with a big grin on his face which prank he should pull today.

He didn't get the chance though. The words of the principal had shocked him a bit too much for pulling some tricks.

"This time, it's not me who wants to talk with you," with a defeated expression on his face, he glanced towards the door. "You can come in, Hattori-kun."

Forgetting his poker face for a moment, Kaito blinked, completely confused to see the teenager walk inside the room, smiling at them and waving his hand. "It's _you _again!" he gasped. "That famous detective... Uh, what was the name again?"

"Hattori Heiji," the detective replied, annoyance lacing his voice.

"Ah, that, that," the magician smiled. "So, what is all of this about?" before turning to the principal. "I have science in few minutes and I can't miss it."

_... Miss the teacher's face when he falls into the trap I have set, _that was.

"I'm here for a simple reason. Tell me all about it and I will leave," Hattori's eyes suddenly hardened. "About how you killed Kato Momoka-han!"

Now his poker face was completely gone, no traces of it left. "... Eh?!"

"Now, now, Hattori-kun," the principal stood up from his seat. "The only reason I let you in is because who you are, but you can't just accuse Kuroba-kun just like that! I know him, he wouldn't be able to-"

"Oh, believe me, that's all they always say," Heiji told the man. "Those who personally know the culprit. They will always argue, swear that the culprit has nothing to do with the crime," an arrogant smirk crossed Hattori's face. "At least, until they confess, cornered by the undeniable evidence presented in front of them."

"But I didn't do anything!" Kaito argued, completely outraged. "I don't even know who this woman is."

"Alright, then. If you didn't do it, you have nothing to fear, right?" he said, swiftly pushing the principal away to sit on his place. "Let's have a little talk, shall we?"

At the sight of Kaito raising an eyebrow at him, the principal sighed, tiredly.

"Just agree with his terms, Kuroba-kun," the principal said. "Be honest and everything will be alright."

Kaito just nodded at him, pretending to be annoyed. _Lady Luck, please, _he pleaded in his mind, however, as the principal passed by him, leaving the room, and the two teenagers alone. _Don't let this detective ask any questions I can't answer._

"So, what do you want to ask?" questioned Kaito, nonchalantly, leaning against his seat with a bored expression on his face. "If you're asking about my alibi or something, I'm not sure I can't help you. You see, I don't really keep track of my time and life so-"

"I don't need any of that," Heiji interrupted him. "I just need you to answer a single question. Just one. And then you can leave."

"But, I'm telling you I didn't kill this Momoko-"

"Momoka," he corrected quickly. "And I know. I know for a fact you don't have a connection with her."

Kaito blinked once. Twice. "... What?"

"I just wanted to talk," he continued. "Now answer this."

"Hey..."

"Who was that friend that was visiting you at the hospital at the other time we met?"

Silence ensued after that question, yet Heiji's gaze did not stray away from the boy in front of him, who seemed to take his time to let the words sink in. When they did, for some reason Heiji couldn't hope to understand, his eyes widened slightly and his face paled considerably. The next instant, he was back to normal, sighing as if annoyed.

Too bad Heiji still noticed the shift.

"What are you going to do if I refuse to say anything?" Kaito replied, closing his eyes with a sigh.

Internally, Hattori flinched. He had a point there.

"I will... reveal your darkest secret to everyone in this school."

Even though he had no idea of what this secret could be, but to be fair, everyone had one secret or two that they did not want people to know about.

It seemed like Kaito's secret was a big one, because of the violent wince that shook his body not even moments after Hattori said that. He recovered right away, an amused smile passing by his lips.

"Ah, is that so?" he teased. "Then, tell me, what is it?"

Hattori smirked. "Do you truly want me to say it out loud?"

"The name is Hirai Arthur," the gazes of both teenagers snapped towards the source of the third voice.

Standing there, arms crossed over his chest, stood another boy of their age. Strawberry blonde hair, chocolate eyes and an arrogant smirk on his face as he simply stared back at the detective from Osaka.

"Hakuba!" Kaito exclaimed, surprised and a tad annoyed, it seemed. "What are you doing here?"

"The principal informed me that you, somehow, managed to make yourself a murder suspect. He sent me here to help you out in case you messed up," the blonde said, calmly, before turning to Heiji, pointedly ignoring the way Kaito, far from feeling thankful, seemed to huff at his explanation. "But it seems like the topic of this conversation has drifted from the original one, hasn't it?"

Heiji frowned a bit at that.

"If you're done here, I recommend you to leave," Hakuba then added. "Unless you want me to tell the principal you were lying about it. It wouldn't be nice if your school was informed that you missed your morning class so you could bully a student from another institute, am I wrong?"

"I was just about to leave," Hattori grinned, as he stood up. "Thanks for giving me the answer I was looking for, though."

Kaito just blinked, owlishly, as he watched the detective of the West heading towards the door, waving at them before leaving for good. Then, he turned to Hakuba, who didn't even look at him, and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, what was that about?" he asked, clearly irritated.

"I can't let anyone catch you before I do," Hakuba explained, before chuckling slightly. "Well, had you been a bit more observant, you would have realized that he was just bluffing and had no idea what your secret was, though."

Kaito groaned at that. "What are you even talking about?"

"He's a detective. If he kept pressing you, he might have figured out who you are," he answered, heading to the door as well. "So I figured it might be best to give him Hirai-kun's name instead. Whatever _his _secret is, he is much more capable of keeping it away from Hattori-kun than you."

"Like I told you, I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you really still believe I'm KID?"

The detective smirked at him, then simply left.

For the longest moment, Kaito stared at the door, silence filling the room, as he let the past events sink on his mind. Then, he sighed, heavily, feeling more exhausted than he had ever felt.

_Seriously, what did just happen?_

* * *

Conan already knew that, in some way or another, he was cursed. Or at least, he had a terrible luck, so that people would just drop dead, be kidnapped or something along those lines wherever he went.

What he didn't expect this time around, though, was the victim to be _Doyle, _kidnapped and hidden somewhere around the house.

Luckily for the dog, the owner and everyone involved, that case had been relatively easy to solve. Apparently it had been Tsunashima. He had wanted to steal the dog's ridiculously rich collar so he could sell it somewhere, in order to buy a new house for his several dogs.

Moved by his story, Kanou had decided to just give the collar to him. Tsunashima had cried tears of happiness at that.

Despite everything, there was a clue that had been left untouched ─ Hazuki Shino's shoes left at the front door ─ causing everyone to wonder. Conan had explained that the culprit had been none other than Arthur, so the dog got yelled by the owner. At least, until he was explained that his intention was to stop Shino, and therefore her dog Christie, from leaving, since he believed that humans needed shoes to leave the house.

They had forgotten all about it when Shino declared she was going to move to London with him, not realizing that they had left the poor dog shaking, thinking that he was still in trouble.

"Silly," apparently, Haibara hadn't forgotten about Arthur. "Rest assured, nobody's angry with you."

Conan looked away from the happy couple to the girl beside him, who had just kneeled down next to the dog, her expression instantly softening at the sight of the animal. Then, a smile made its appearance on her face without her noticing.

"Finally!" their three friends seemed to notice the same thing, as well.

Haibara blinked.

"We were really worried about you!" Ayumi quickly explained.

"You have been really depressed lately," with a nod, Genta agreed.

"So we all thought of ways to lift your spirits!" Mitsuhiko said, with a big grin.

Now it was turn for Conan to blink. "You did?" he asked, completely took by surprise. He had honestly thought they hadn't noticed a thing, but then again, of course they had. They were really observant when they wanted to. "So I wasn't included, huh?"

"That's because you're always arguing with Haibara-san!" Ayumi said with a smile.

"... Am I?"

"Yeah, you are!" Genta yelled.

The boy simply shrugged at that, not caring enough about that fact to actually grace his friends with another response. It wasn't like they minded either, it seemed, because the next second they were all laughing, praising Arthur for such a good job.

At his side, stood Haibara. Her smile hadn't yet vanished from her face, it even grew bigger than before as she watched her friends playing.

"So, it's animals, huh?"

Ai honestly didn't understood what the boy was talking about, so she settled with directing a questioning gaze back at him.

"I was just wondering," he replied her unspoken question, his hands sliding back on his pockets.

"Wondering what?"

"You know," he slightly tilted his head to his side, his gaze not breaking apart from his friends. "Ayumi-chan loves the colour pink, yet hates snakes. She has taken a liking to shojo manga lately... Mitsuhiko is a nerd ─ loves every single thing that has to do with science and technology ─ and dreams to study computer science when he grows older. Dislikes carrots with a passion, though... Genta, well, loves to eat. However, he is learning how to handle his father's liquor store so he can work there in the future. Hates math."

Haibara did not comment on that, just staring at the boy while patiently waiting him to explain his point. With a smile, however, Conan crossed his arms behind his head.

"I love mysteries, but I take you already knew that, right?" he chuckled. "I also like soccer a lot, and, ever since Mitsuhiko and the others introduced me to it, I really enjoy watching Kamen Yaiba. If there's something I don't like in this world, however, it might be-"

"Raisins," she completed without batting an eye. "You hate raisins for some reasons I can't hope to understand. I saw you flinching the day I mentioned the word to Mouri-san."

"Wow, you're good."

"Well, is that it?" Haibara looked at him from the corner of her eye. "What does it have to do with anything?"

"What about you?" she definitely didn't expect that. "Now I know you like animals, but that's it," finally, his eyes met hers and she could see something passing by them. Was it concern? Pity? She couldn't tell. "What are the things you like? What are the things you hate? Is there something you want to do in the future?"

For the longest time, the girl simply stared back at the boy, whose eyes seemed to see much more than what it looked like. Then, after what it felt like an eternity, her lips curved.

Conan didn't get to see any of that, however, because she quickly turned around.

"Well, if it's about hate," she said to him, amusement tinting her voice. "I hate nosy detectives."

"... Should I send my brother a text and tell him to be careful?"

"Yes, send him a text. But tell him he is going to become an only child instead."

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," despite what he had said, the way his lips twitched upward told another story.

"Of course you don't. Isn't denial your strong point?"

The conversation seemed to shift from the main topic right after that, but none minded that one bit. Mostly because they both knew that the message had been clear, and had been understood.

Even after that, however, Haibara did not stop wondering.

She honestly didn't have any answer for his question.

Both children were brought out of their conversation when a phone seemed to start ringing. The girl just watched as the boy pulled his phone from his pocket, glanced at the screen before an exhausted sigh escaped from his lips. Stepping aside, he picked up.

"What is it, Hattori?"

"Yo, kid," Heiji's cheerful voice came from the other side of the receiver. "How are you doing?"

"Did you find something?" Conan asked right away.

"Hey, you could at least be a bit nicer, you rude little jerk," Hattori complained. "I'm in my way back home from Ekoda so, if you don't improve that attitude of yours, I won't speak a word of it to you."

Groaning a bit, Conan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, sorry about that," he said in a barely audible whisper.

"Hey," the teenager's tone changed at that. "Are you okay? You sound tired."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, his hand sliding inside his pocket again. "Just solved the tenth case this week."

"Again?"

"This one was fairly easy, though. At first I was scared to think I've walked right into a dog murder case, but it turned out to be that he was just hidden in the house."

Hattori paused, silently listening as the kid sighed again, showing and overall exhaustion no children should. He wondered if, at this point, this little boy had solved more cases than him, and couldn't help but worry.

If this continued like this, this kid would die from stress alone, he shuddered.

"So, what did you find?" finally, Conan asked.

"Ah, well, a lot actually," Heiji replied. "Say, why don't you, Ran-chan and the old man come to Osaka and-?"

"You didn't find _that _much, did you?" his eyebrow raised. "Or, at least not that much to require a face to face conversation."

Heiji flinched, then groaned. Of course he couldn't lie to _this _kid in particular, he should have really expected it. _Now, what do I do? _he thought about it hard. It wasn't like he could give that easily on him...

Then, it occured it to him.

"Say, kid. Don't you want to meet some stars?"

Conan blinked. "I'm not following."

"My parents were invited to a restaurant's opening party, but they both got colds and can't go. So I was thinking of inviting you guys," Hattori explained, a grin etched on his face. "Three of the most famous American athletes we'll be here in Japan."

"Pass."

"What's wrong with you?" the teenager complained, feeling a bit annoyed now. "This is a unique opportunity."

"Is that you want someone dead in that party? Because that's what is going to happen."

"Come on, don't be that grim. Everything will be alright," he pointedly ignored the grumbled '_I doubt it' _and continued. "Look, you can't miss out on this. Those three athletes will be there."

"Ah, yeah?" Conan replied, a bored, uninterested, tone sipping on his voice. "Who are those athletes?"

"Pro-boxer Ricardo Barega, Major Leaguer Mike Node and lastly Pro-soccer player Ray Curtis-"

"I'm going."

"I see... That's too bad..." Hattori sighed, running a hand on his hair, feeling defeated after running out of options, until the little child's words really dawned on him. He paused, blinked. "... What did you just say?"

"I'm going," he repeated, before adding. "Don't take it the wrong way. I just want to talk to you about Watanabe-sensei's case in person. That's all."

A few seconds passed by, in silence, as Heiji just sat there in his train, quiet. He even had to take another look at his phone before a grin grew in his face. "Oh, I see..."

"You don't sound convinced."

He didn't notice Haibara giggling, having watched him through the entire conversation. She didn't have any idea of what they had been talking about, but the lovely pinch on red on the young detective's cheeks was more than enough for her to know that he was being teased.

Then, he smiled childishly.

Seeing Conan acting like a child amused Haibara to no end. _Well that's natural, considering we are children._

Shrugging a bit, she walked towards the rest of her friends, wondering if, one day, she, too, would smile like the child she was supposed to be.

* * *

"... And last up is the goalkeeper known as the 'Iron Wall of Europe', Ray Curtis-san!"

When the very famous athlete walked in the stage, Conan barely noticed his smile growing on his own accord, feeling giddy with excitement. _Awesome, _that was the only thought currently going through his mind at that moment. _It's him!_

As the blonde man joined the other two, and took the microphone from the presenter ─ revealing in the process that he could speak Japanese perfectly well ─ Heiji couldn't help but steal a glance to the kid at his side, or more specifically the wide grin that threatened to split his face in half, and kneeled down next to him.

"See?" he whispered in his ear. "I told you this would be great."

"Yeah," the child barely whispered, far too mesmerized with his idol to pay attention to anything else.

Not that Heiji minded too much, however. Standing back up, he watched the child for a few moments by the corner of his eye. The way his eyes were twinkling and his mouth opened, in awe, prompted the older detective to chuckle slightly.

It was unusual to see this overly serious and mature little boy so happy, acting so... childishly.

_And that's how it should be, _Hattori's smile dropped. _Children should be just that, children._

_But this one seems to have forgotten how to be one._

Closing his eyes, he sighed a bit, breaking his gaze away from the smiling child towards the scenario.

_Even if it's just for today... Just this once... _

_Allow yourself to be a child, Conan._

Just as he was saying that, another voice broke in and a news reporter, Edward McKay, spoke up and started to try put them down. Heiji initially wondered who was this person supposed to be, until Kogoro explained that he was an American reporter specialized in exposing famous athletes' scandals. He wasn't that surprised, that kind of reporters were everywhere.

He was surprised, however, when the announcer asked the audience to submit questions, only to Ran to raise her hand on the air, badly starling Kazuha, who was standing right beside her. Instead of a question, the girl asked Ray if she could get an autograph, and got a signed one of the four uniforms with his number, the number eight, on it. Blushing slightly, she asked if he could write the name 'Shinichi' on it.

"Oh, isn't he lucky? That guy..." Conan muttered.

"Hey," Heiji said, with a teasing grin. "Are you jealous?"

Conan didn't answer right away, crossing his arms behind his head. "Not really," he answered. "Shinichi-niichan has been a fan of him before I was even born," in fact, it had actually been him who had passed down his fanaticism towards Ray to Conan. "So I guess it's fair. He didn't get the chance to see him in person like I did."

"Wow, you are rather understanding when it comes to it."

When the girl returned, Ray's shirt clutched against her chest, she handed something to the little boy. Conan blinked, stunned, at the sight of the ticket that was suddenly in front of his nose. "This is a ticket to the exhibition match in Nagai that Ray-san will be playing it," she smiled at him. "He just gave it to me. Do you want it?"

Ran was amused when the child took the ticket between his hands, aweing at it with a broad grin on his face. Giggling at the unusual sight of Conan acting _this _open, she turned back to Heiji, who was surprised at how generous Curtis was.

She explained that they had asked a favour in exchange. They had given her a walkie-talkie, as she was supposed to communicate to the three athletes and help them form the letter 'K' with the lights of the hotel rooms.

The letter 'K' was done perfectly.

Yet, as little Conan's luck would have it, everyone heard a gunshot.

Edward McKay was found dead in a room at the second floor, gripping his belt with his left hand, and holding up his thumb, middle and pointing finger on his right.

Considering their positions right after the murder ─ since they had poked their heads out when the shooting sound happened ─ it could have been any of them.

"Then," Kogoro wondered. "Just who is the murderer?"

"Maybe a guest from the restaurant did it?" Conan spoke up, causing Kogoro, Heiji and Inspector Otaki to turn to him. "When it happened, Hattori-san and I rushed up here. If the killer was one of those that came up with us, he could have escaped then."

The inspector and the older detective seemed to think over his words, seriously, while Hattori just watched the child talking with the adults, the usual overly sweet smile present on his face.

And he frowned.

* * *

Because the hotel hadn't opened yet, the elevators were still not operational, Heiji observed, as he slowly made his way to the first floor. That meant that, whoever had done it, they might have used the stairs to get to the murder scene.

_Lights switches seem to be installed and working, _he noted, opening the door to the room and focused on the switch. _To make it go an off, you need to push the switch each time._

Upon turning the light on, he detective examined the room. His gaze fell on the curtain, not failing to remember that Ran had told Mike to open the curtains before the shot had been made, and moved closer. Pulling the cloth to the side, he watched the darkened city outside the window. _If you tied a loop in a rope and..._

"That's impossible," Heiji turned around at the sound of the young voice, and wasn't surprised to find Conan, leaning in the doorway, hands inside his pockets and an almost bored look on his eyes. "I have already looked through Mike-san's room. There was nothing to suggest anything was tied to it or that it was tampered with."

Heiji quietly watched the child moving inside the room.

"Among those three, the most suspicious would be the one closest to the crime scene. But it couldn't have been Ray-san, considering it takes at least ten seconds to make it to the second floor and that his left knee is injured. Mike-san injured his arm in a previous game, and Ricardo-san is too big and slow," then, he smiled at him. "That's why I'm telling you. None of those three could have done it."

And for a long moment, the room was silent. The child only blinked, confusedly, when Hattori's eyes seemed to narrow, staring at him in a way that actually made him feel uncomfortable. Before he could ask was was wrong, he watched him kneel down next to him.

"Say, why don't you go check on Kazuha and the others for me?" he commented, a smile on his face. "Ran-chan must be worried about you."

"Eh?" Conan raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you? This is certainly _not _the first time I sneak out of her watch, and you never seem to be concerned about it."

"Ah, is that so?" he let out a nervous laugh. "That doesn't mean is not true however. You should go. I will take care of this."

When the hand landed on the top of his head, Conan couldn't help but stare back at the older boy, feeling utterly lost. In the past, Hattori would always let him come along when he was solving mysteries, and was usually okay with the both of them working together. Why would he, completely out of the blue, want him out of the case?

Just as Heiji's hand started ruffling his hair, Conan inhaled sharply. "Hattori," he finally spoke, eyes widening as realization dawned to him. "You don't think that...?"

"Huh? Ah, no. I still haven't got a clue."

"You do," Conan shook his head. "But you are wrong," then he stood up, walking around the room, looking at every little thing with a smirk on his face. "Making it to the door and knocking would take another five seconds," absentmindedly he opened the closet door. "It just can't be done."

When he turned to face Heiji, however, he noticed he was looking somewhere else. He followed his gaze and realized that, inside the closet he had just opened, was a mop. _What is this thing doing here? _he wondered, taking the object between his hands. _Do they keep these in hotel rooms?_

His eyes then fell on the switch beside the door.

The sound of something falling into the floor startled Hattori, causing him to turn towards the child. The mop had slipped from his finger going slack due to the shock of what had just crossed his mind, eyes fixed on the small light switch from before.

"Conan," the child's head snapped towards Hattori when he spoke. "I can solve this case alone, so why don't you-?"

"You're not thinking _that_, do you?" Heiji silently stared back at the young boy, who seemed to smile, even if his eyebrows were still clenched together. "He couldn't have done it. No way."

"Listen, kid, I-"

"No, _you_ listen to me!" Heiji winced at his loud outburst. "It just can't be done! And I will prove it to you!"

With that, the child took off running out the room.

It wouldn't be long until he realized the undeniable truth, however.

* * *

"Actually, someone is waiting for you in the hotel room you're staying in," Hattori had said to the famous soccer player. "This request is actually... For your biggest fan."

When Ray arrived at the accorded place, however, he hadn't expected to see his hotel room wide open, a mop supporting a cabinet door. _Oh my gosh._

Just as he was about to ask out loud who could have done such a thing, a soccer ball descended down the stairs, bouncing twice before knocking down the broom. As a result, the door feel and turned up the light.

"That's how you did it, didn't you, Ray-san?" Looking up, he saw a little boy standing on top of the stairs, whose lips then curved into a rueful smile. "After practicing a few times, even a kid like me can do it. And you were midfielder Ray Curtis, known for his powerful free kicks."

Ray's eyes adopted a darker look, just watching the child slowly walking down the stairs, one at a time. As he did so, he explained the trick he had done to make everyone believe he hadn't killed anyone. There was a sad, resigned look on his eyes as he did so, however.

The needle he had used to deflate the soccer ball he had used, the way he had avoided getting gunpowder on his clothes, even Edward's dying message that clearly meant 'eight'... Every little thing he mentioned caused the goalkeeper grow more and more restless.

No matter how much Ray tried to argue, that kid still correctly deflected every single one of the excuses he gave out to defend himself.

"It's ironic," Conan crouched besides the ball he had just kicked. "I wanted to prove you innocent, so I started to investigate. But the more along I got, more came up pointing at you."

"_Little boy,_" Ray let out a laugh. "How unfortunate that all you said isn't enough to convict me..."

"Shoes," was all the child said, as he stood up, holding the bag between his hands. "You were wearing them when you did it, right?" he gave him a look, frowning at him. "You wouldn't have been able to kick otherwise."

Pale as a sheet of paper, Ray simply let his arms hang at his sides, finally coming into the realization that there might no other way out of it. Silently still, he watched the child letting an exhausted sigh.

"Just give up," Conan said to him, his voice barely above a whisper. "Just give up, Ray-san... Please."

Ray sighed as well. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's something I can't do," he let out a sickening smirk. "If I were to get arrested, my fans, my family, they'd be disappointed."

"Disappointed, huh?"

Before he knew it, a ball was shot right at him. Even if he was shocked, he quickly slid into the stance of a professional goalkeeper, in order to catch it. His knee failed him, however, and he found himself smacked by the ball across the face.

"What would they all think?" the child walked closer to the man, who had just fallen into his rear at the impact of the ball. "What would all your fans think if they saw you, Ray Curtis, the Iron Wall failing to block a ball kicked by a mere elementary grade student?"

Sharp blue eyes, tainted by disappointment, looked straight at Ray.

"What's wrong with you?" he whispered, then shouted. "Answer me, Ray!"

Ray stared at him for a few seconds, before a resigned chuckle escaped from his lips. Then, with a heavy voice, he decided to tell the boy everything. As the child expected, Curtis used drugs, but had only began to take them after Edward had soiled his name, pushing his wife into suicide because of the pressure.

"That's why..." Curtis pressed a hand against his face. "That's why I..."

Conan's gaze hardened.

"_Stop. Stop it, Ray," _he said, English rolling down his tongue. "_Even if you are facing a bitter aspect of life, drugs and murder are foul, without any excuse."_

The soccer player looked up at him, taken aback for the wise words coming out of such a young mouth.

"_You deserve a red card, for a loser," _Conan's eyes closed.

Ray's lips turned upwards. "_True, I was a cheater. A bad player, and I lost the game," _he confessed. "_I must be ejected," _he finally stood up. "_For both my late wife... And for a fan like you."_

With that, Ray Curtis disappeared down the stairs. Conan would find out later than the man had admitted to the crime, allowing himself to be judged accordingly.

Yet, Conan knew, everything came with a price. He knew he would never see his idol in the field ever again.

* * *

Predictably so, Conan ended up not going to that match in Nagai he had been looking forward to so badly.

He just exhaled, forlornly, letting his shoulders drop as he just stared blankly at the space in front of him, leaning his face against his head as he just sat there, in the stairs of Heiji's house.

Suddenly, something hit his head, momentarily snapping him out of his sulking state. He stared, confusedly, back at Heiji, who caught the ball, that had just bounced on him, between his hands.

"What are you doing over there?" he said to the child. "You deserve to be hit."

"You _always _deserve to be hit," Conan raised an eyebrow. "But you don't see me kicking you with a soccer ball ever waking second of your life, do you?"

Heiji rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed, before sitting him beside Conan. "Hey," the kid didn't seem to appreciate it. "Who invited you?"

"As a matter of fact, this is _my _house, so technically it was me who invited you."

Besides the way the child seemed to shake his head at that, he didn't respond to the tease. The only thing he did was to pull his knees closer to his chest and wrap his arms around his legs. Like so, they sat in a silence that, instead of uncomfortable, Conan found rather nice.

Not that he would say it out loud, of course.

"Say, Hattori," finally, came the timid voice of the boy, who didn't even look at him. "Why did you decide to look into my brother's case, even if you were so sure that he...?"

Hattori pondered over it for a moment.

"Because I met Kudo in person, and... I don't know, I don't think he could've done it."

"Idiot. That doesn't prove anything."

"Of course not, that's why I'm looking for a proof!" Hattori answered, before a smile crossed his face. "Well, there is also one little thing that, even if not enough for everyone, is more than enough proof for me."

"Huh?" Conan blinked, stupidly. "What proof?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yeah," Hattori nodded. "I can see it, in your eyes," he looked at the child. "You believe in him, don't you?"

"Of course I do," the kid argued, looking at him for a second, before focusing his gaze back to the grass. "But does that really matter?" he forced a smile on his face. "To be frank, I'm a bit scared now. What if I try to look for something to prove Shinichi-niichan innocent and I end up finding something that proves him guilty instead? If that happened, I..." he frowned. "I..."

_I don't think I would able to take it, _even if he didn't say it, Heiji understood perfectly. So, for a moment of so, he just played with the soccer ball, passing from one hand to the other, thinking deeply about the dilemma going through that bright, yet young mind.

"You know, Conan, what happened to Ray Curtis has no point of comparison with this case," he began. "The reason you couldn't accept that Ray was the culprit was because you were a big fan of him, which is understandable, but that was it. Your relationship with Kudo is obviously deeper and stronger than that, isn't it?"

Conan simply stared back at the detective for a few moments, before looking up the sky.

"... I guess," he shrugged. "It's not like have been _that _close, though."

Hattori chuckled. "You two share a strong bond, even if none of you realize it," he commented. "I'm certain of it."

The child did not understand, making it evident by the confusion pinching his face, which in turn seemed to amuse the Osakan detective, laughing loudly.

If he didn't have any pride, Conan would have pouted right then and there.

"Whatever," Conan finally huffed. "Will you finally tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"You know," he rolled his eyes. "What did you find out when you went to Ekoda?"

"Ah, that," Heiji laughed, awkwardly. "It wasn't _that _much actually."

"Hey, hey."

"I have that weird random stuff you asked me about, and I have written it down. Ah, and I got that weird guy's name. You know, the one that seemed to be threatening Tanaka-sensei at that time."

"Oh, really?" Conan's interest picked up at that.

"Yeah," he answered with a cocky grin.

The child didn't expect the name he pronounced after that:

"The name is Arthur. Hirai Arthur."

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I will think about it ;)

Dy: Thank you for pointing that out! Also, thanks for your suggestion :) I will think about it.

Asahina Chihaya: Mary Sera is going to appear at some point, and I think I have more of less though how it's going to happen. And I'm probably going to do at least one Kaito KID movie since I believe writing about Conan's reaction to his disguises would be interesting XD


	40. Terror at the Old Blue Castle

**File Forty: Terror at the Old Blue Castle**

"Hirai Arthur?!"

Hattori basically backed up at the loudness of his voice, ball sliding from his fingers and rolling in the ground, away from the duo. He just blinked, completely taken aback by the little boy's sudden outburst. _What's up with this kid? _he could only wonder, looking at Conan's bewildered expression and wide eyes.

"That's what I was told," Hattori replied, slowly. "Hey, you look pale."

Suddenly aware of his overreaction, the child backed away. "Well," he explained. "I kind of met someone with that name."

"Eh? Do you know him?"

"Yeah," he frowned slightly. "Or at least, I believe I do."

Seeing that the child wasn't going to say anything more than that, Hattori shrugged and stood up. "Anyway, I don't think it's safe to go any closer to that guy," he spoke, picking up the ball he had dropped. "It's possible that he is not that dangerous as he seems," he began to juggle it between his legs, in such a clumsy way that caused Conan to physically wince. "But with these people, it might be best to just play it safe and- Ah!"

Just as he was saying that, he lost control of the ball, causing it to fall, bouncing a few times before it stopped moving in front of Conan's feet. The kid just stared at the ball, blankly.

"You suck," he informed the older boy, with a plain voice.

"What'd you say?" Hattori glared, slightly annoyed.

With that, the boy finally stood up. "Watch me," he said, and began to do the same Heiji had been trying to do, only that he excelled at it.

Gradually, at the sight of the bright grin that began to draw itself on Conan's features, the annoyance Hattori was feeling began to vanish, disappearing without any trace of it having even existed. _He will be just fine, _instead of that, a tender smile tugged Heiji's lips upwards.

So was the case with the three people, watching from a distance away.

"It looks like he is in a better mood," Kogoro sighed.

Ran nodded, not breaking her gaze away from the little boy, overjoyed to see him acting like that.

Kazuha, on the other hand, just watched Heiji, actually surprised to see such a fond look on his eyes.

"Those two look just like brothers, don't they?" she commented.

"You think so?" Ran replied.

She watched Conan running off with the ball, probably telling Heiji to try take it away from him and giggled, unable to think of anything else but those scarce, yet precious moments when she would watch Conan and Shinichi play with each other, when they were younger and everything was way easier and simpler.

_It has been a long while..._

"Yeah, they do."

Briefly, with an amused smile on her face, Ran wondered if Shinichi would actually be jealous if he knew about that.

* * *

Quite honestly, Professor Agasa had not the slightest clue of how he had been talked into doing that, yet there he was, standing right beside Conan as they waited for whoever the child wanted to see to be brought to that room.

Agasa was sure that the only reason he was there was that Conan was eight, making him unable to do this in the first place. In fact, he wasn't even sure that they would have been allowed to do such thing if it hadn't been _that _kid in the first place, considering he had no blood relation with that person. He still had absolutely no idea of how they had convinced them.

But he did.

The prisoner had Conan wanted to see was a young woman, with black hair pulled into a ponytail and a radiant smile on her face.

"Conan-kun," she said to him, as soon as they were left alone ─ well, not _completely_ alone, considering the guard that was still watching them from a distance. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"Neither did I, Seiji-san."

At that, Agasa blinked. He had been so sure this person's name was Asai Narumi.

"Don't worry," the child continued, not failing to notice the panicked look Seiji sent towards Agasa's direction. "This man over here is called Agasa Hiroshi. He has been a good friend of my family for years."

"Oh, I see," the doctor sighed, relieved. "I'm sorry. Considering my condition, I'm a bit in an edge every time my real name is mentioned."

With that, Seiji's smile came back up on his face.

"That's what you wanted to talk to me about, isn't it, little detective?"

"Will you?"

"That's the least I can do for you. You risked your life to save mine, after all."

Conan scratched the back of his head, seemingly a bit embarrassed about that, before looking up at Seiji, his expression getting serious in a moment. "You told me before you had gotten into trouble and had to adopt another identity," Conan spoke. "What did you get yourself into?"

The imprisoned doctor breathed deeply, focusing on his hands, which rested on top of the table, as he seemed to think how to put his thoughts into order.

"I was looking into my father's murder," Seiji finally said. "As I investigated, I found out he had been involved in some sort of shady business. At some point, I came across an organization that, I suspected, could be related to it. I tried to look into it further," he then let out an humorless laugh. "But I'm no detective, so of course I got found out by them. And, to make things worse, they had nothing to do with my father's case so it was all in vain."

"And then, you changed your name to Asai Narumi and came to live at Tsukikage Island," Conan finished, and the person in front of him nodded. "How did you do it?"

"Well, I _can't _go into many details," he offered the little boy an apologetic look. "But I got some help."

"Help?"

"Yes."

"Was it...?" the child's gaze suddenly sharpened. "Could the one that helped you out be, actually, Arthur-san?"

Seiji gave the young boy a long look. "Sorry," he finally said. "I can't give you that information."

"But you won't deny it."

"Certainly."

The old professor watched, confusion etched on his face, as that familiar smirk crossed Conan's features ─ the same one he seemed to share with his brother ─ before he changed it with a very childish smile. "I see," he finally said, loudly enough for the guard to hear, hopping off his seat. "I hope you are released soon, Narumi-sensei."

"So do I," Seiji gave the boy a gentle smile. "It was nice to see you again, Conan-kun."

Nodding back at him, and offering a thankful smile, the child allowed the guard to take him and Agasa out of the room.

Throughout the way to the car, the little boy didn't seem to direct a word towards the older man who, in turn, just silently watched him rub his chin with his index finger and thumb, definitely deep in thought. _What is he thinking about?_

Frankly, he didn't have an idea, and he didn't think he would ever know what exactly was going through that brilliant young mind of his. _Just like Shinichi at his age,_ he remembered seeing his older brother thinking just like that.

Only that, in Shinichi's case, he was often thinking about random riddles his father would put him through or simple mysteries that actually fit with his age, even if they were a bit more difficult than average.

Conan's case was... well, a _lot _more complex.

"Hey, you two!" Genta's angry shout welcomed them as soon as they got inside Agasa's yellow beetle, starting Conan out of his trance. "What took you so long?!"

"Sorry, sorry," Agasa apologized, since that the child wasn't going to do so any time soon, if the way he glared at him was something to go by. "It took a bit more than expected to convince them to let us through."

"Did you find something?" Mitsuhiko asked, while Ayumi nodded, both feeling a bit anxious.

Conan hummed. "It's a bit hard to tell," he shrugged, turning to look out the window when Agasa began to drive away. "I have some theories, but I still need some work to do on them."

"What theory?" Ayumi asked, curious.

"Just a little thing, really. It's not that much of a big deal."

There was a moment of silence, until Genta narrowed his eyes. "You're not going to tell us, are you?" he accused.

"Yet."

When the three children groaned, Haibara couldn't help but giggle at it. "Just admit defeat, guys," she simply replied. "Kudo-kun is trying to keep the mystery up and isn't going to give up as easily."

The boy in question rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."

She didn't seem to care, just focusing her gaze back towards the scenery outside the car, while Conan simply huffed, turning his head away from her. Their friends simply took a moment to glare a bit to their secretive friend, before they slipped into another conversation topic.

At some point, however, Haibara felt eyes on her. It wasn't long before he spotted the boy that sat beside her, staring at her direction for some reason she couldn't comprehend, then flinch violently when he realized he had been caught.

"What do you want now?" annoyance laced her voice as she spoke.

"Ah, no," he quickly shook his head. "It's nothing."

Her eyebrow raised, and she didn't really need to use words to tell the boy that she was not buying it. Conan, realizing that there was no way out, just sighed deeply.

"... I'm a detective, you know," he started out, his gaze focusing in another random spot in space as if to avoid looking at her at the face. "There... There are _things _I can't help but notice. And most of them are not that important, really, but-"

"What did you notice?" she interrupted, exasperated.

Conan seemed to hesitate, looking at her at the eyes, then at her clothes for some reason, before focusing at that random spot again. Only then, Haibara understood what was all of that about.

"You are right," she answered his unspoken question with a wide, teasing smirk adorning her face. "This dress I'm wearing right now is, indeed, new. I just bought it yesterday. This jacket, however, not that much."

"Ah, is that so?" Conan tried to make it sound as if he was bored, but the lovely, yet faint, shade of red that painted his cheeks told another whole different story.

"I didn't know you paid attention to these kind of things, Kudo-kun."

"Idiot," his face went red with embarrassment at that. "I just found it unusual that you are actually interested in these kind of things," then, he added. "You look... rather stylish, I guess."

"Thanks for the compliment, but Yoshida-san already beat you to that," she ignored the way he seemed to complain, arguing that he didn't do such a thing. "I didn't know I could be interested in these kind of things myself either, though," then, her teasing smirk turned into a real smile. "I'm still trying to answer that question _somebody _asked not that long ago."

Conan just stared at her, wide eyed, unable to form another coherent thought about that. Chuckling slightly, Haibara shrugged. "Well," she said. "Not that you are much different."

"Eh?"

"When was the last time you used a beanie?"

After that, the boy sighed, visually annoyed at the memory, and told her all about how Ran had basically forced it on him ─ she had said that it was far too chilly outside not to wear it, but the way she had squealed in delight upon seeing it on him prompted him to believe that the girl just had thought it just looked cute on him.

As they lost themselves in another of their quiet, pleasant conversations, nobody noticed the little girl that turned to look at them. She frowned slightly, taking on them both for a while, before returning to talk with Mitsuhiko once more.

* * *

"Seriously, though," Conan huffed, crossing his arms behind his head. "What kind of person goes out to camp _without _a tent?"

"Another chance for a vacation down the drain," Mitsuhiko sighed as he looked out the window.

"It looks like we're lost, too," Ayumi pointed out, unhelpfully.

"It because all of your muttering," Agasa argued.

_Sure_, the boy with glasses rolled his eyes. "There is one single thing we are certain of, though," he spoke. "We're sleeping in the car tonight."

All his friends ─ except for Haibara, of course ─ loudly complained, not liking the prospect one bit. Ayumi even wondered, out loud and with a huge smile on her face, if there would be a castle by a lake or something of that sort where they could stay. Conan would have laughed at the absurdity of that comment, but Haibara pointed out something...

There _was_ one. In the distance they could see blue old, European castle poking out of the trees that surrounded it. _What are the chances, really?_

The castle was even more amazing up close, the three children realized with a gasp when Agasa's yellow beetle parked right in front of the entrance. _How much money do these people have? _the bespectacled boy wondered. _To build this thing you need to bring piece-by-piece everything from overseas._

Unsurprisingly, Genta rushed in head first before anyone could stop it, climbing over the fence in a flash. The boy was, however, soon was caught by a man ─ Conan guessed he was the gardener ─ by holding him up from the back of his shirt.

Rushedly, Agasa explained to him that they weren't intruders, only to get told to leave, rudely so. The owner, it seemed, arrived before the gardener could kick them off, asking what was going on.

"This idiot says he wants to look around," the gardener said, pointing with his thumb at Agasa.

"Who is the idiot here?" understandably so, the professor grew angry. "I am a scientist!"

"Scientist?" he seemed to be interested about that.

"Indeed," the old professor stroked his mustache, chest puffing up with pride. "I'm Agasa Hiroshi. Well known in the field of science as an inventor."

"Are you also well known as the only person in the world that goes out camping without a tent?" whispered Conan.

"Leave me alone," Agasa muttered back at him.

The man didn't seem to hear the little boy's comment, but smiled for some reason, before letting them in out of the blue, offering them to stay over the night.

Which Conan was extremely thankful for, if equally suspicious about his sudden generosity.

Choosing not to give that any further thought, the boy followed his friends inside the property. Walking past a gigantic chess board made with grass, Ayumi had beamed and rushed to see more, followed by Mitsuhiko and Genta, both as marvelled at the sight as the girl.

As the three children continued to run around, amazed by the beautiful garden, Conan's attention drifted away from them to the conversation the gardener was having with Agasa. Apparently, a fire had taken place in a tower they could see in the distance, which had been the mistress' bedroom up until she had died then, right when she had returned to celebrate her mother's birthday. More than a dozen people had been burnt alive in that tower.

When they entered the room, they were welcomed with the sight of several portraits of the members of the family.

Just as they were talking about the previous head of the family an old woman, in a wheelchair, also appeared, which was identified as Mamiya Masuyo, the head of the family. The gardener apologized, profusely, not wanting to remind her of his deceased husband.

"Even though he is not here, I have gotten used to it," she said. "It's just like changes in the notes and passports. You may find it hard to adjust at the beginning, but you get used to it eventually."

She was severely delusional, it seemed, since she asked where her daughter was, remembering she was supposed to be there for her birthday, but forgetting that she had died several years ago.

The old lady then left, not without saying something like: "I hope you will solve the mystery left by that person," when she heard about Agasa's profession as a 'famous' scientist.

Apparently the former master's final words had been '_If you can solve the mystery in this castle, you will inherit the most valuable thing for me.'_

Conan had then asked if there was a place where they could see the chess pieces from above.

Because of that the boy was there, sitting on the floor next to the window as he looked at his notepad, while Ayumi was busy, gazing upon the entire garden from her spot. Genta had ran off to the adjacent room not that long ago, after Mitsuhiko claimed he could see everything perfectly from there.

The boy with glasses barely paid attention to that, far too focused on the notepad in his hands, scratching his head with his pen as he looked over and over again at the diagram he had just drawn. _There has to be something with the placement of the pieces..._

"You are glad, aren't you?" at the sound of Haibara's voice, Conan looked up, just to see the girl's head from close ─ _too _close ─ as she simply looked at his notepad. "That is your favourite type of code."

At his lack of response, she looked right at him, shortening their proximity further, if possible.

"Isn't it?" she questioned.

"... I-I guess so," Conan stammered, backing off a bit, trying so hard not to think about the way he could feel her breathing on his face.

"Wait you two!" at Ayumi's shout, the two instantly moved away from each other, gazes snapping towards the girl's direction, only to find that she was actually looking out the window. "What are you doing?! You're going to fall!"

The young boy instantly stood up, just to see Genta hanging from the window as Mitsuhiko desperately tried to pull him back up. Growling under his breath, he darted towards the other room, just in time to see the bigger boy dropping into the floor inside, exhausted yet safe.

"Honestly..." Conan sighed, tiredly, resting against the wall.

That was when he noticed it. The window was near the wall, and so was the case on the room next to that one. _Then, what is with the space in between these two rooms?_

His knuckles knocked against the wall, until he heard a hollow noise. A smirk crossed his face when his eyes fell on the clock above his head.

Neither Genta or Mitsuhiko noticed their friend dragging a chair close, putting some books over it so he could climb. They didn't see him spinning the hands of the clock.

Or the wall suddenly flipping over, knocking the chair over and causing the child to fall in the other side, disappearing from plain view.

_Of course, _the boy thought as he sat there, in the middle of the darkness. _Of course this couldn't be an ordinary castle..._

With a groan, the child stood up, turning the light on his watch on so he could see. Upon noticing some stairs, Conan started to walk. He went down, down and down, to the point to make him wonder how deep this castle actually was.

When he reached the end of the stairs, he felt his feet colliding with something. Completely confused, he looked down.

He was horrified.

A skeleton lied in the ground right in front of him.

Before he could do something about it, a blow in his head knocked him out. He was gone to the world before he could even see his attacker.

* * *

Conan was missing.

One look at the scene ─ the fallen chair, the scattered books, all of them right under a clock in the wall ─ and Haibara had more or less an idea of where he had gone. Even so, she had decided not to act for the moment. It was incredibly dangerous with her friends there.

She was absolutely sure that Conan would find his way out in no time, anyway.

Yet, they there were. Sitting at the table for dinner, but still without a sign of the bespectacled boy's whereabouts. The general consensus at that point was that the kid had gotten lost inside the castle.

"I hope he doesn't go to the tower while he's lost," Mitsuru, the husband of the deceased mistress, said.

"Tower?" Agasa was confused.

He then explained that he meant the same tower that had been engulfed with flames four years ago. They were also told that his new assistant had disappeared there without a trace, only to be found ten years later in the forest, dead by starvation.

Upon hearing that, everyone set off to search for him. The three children cried his name, at the top of their lungs, worried sick about their friend.

They searched in every single spot on the castle so, considering that the entrance to the tower was still locked, the adults came up into the conclusion that he had gotten lost in the forest. But since it had started to rain, heavily, they decided to call the police in the morning.

Conan's friends were outraged.

"Conan-kun!" especially Ayumi apparently, since she was still screaming in the middle of the rain, clutching the bag with bread she had collected for him.

"It's alright," the girl stopped when Haibara stood right next to her. "Kudo-kun isn't the type to make you worry. He will come back himself."

Ayumi blinked at her, tears collecting on her eyes.

"If you have time to cry, why don't you seal the bag so it will keep the bread dry?"

The girl nodded at her, silently, before Haibara took her hand and started to lead her away. She stared at the strawberry blonde for a moment, hesitation glimmering through her tears, before she decided to speak. "Hey," she suddenly said. "How do you know Conan-kun so well?"

Haibara paused at that. "What?"

"Conan-kun has always been so secretive, keeping everything to himself. He never talks with us about his problems, until he can hold it in any longer," the girl explained. "But it is different with you, Haibara-san. Even if we know him for much longer than you do, he tells you everything that is in his mind... That's why, I can't help but wonder..."

Ayumi clenched the bag between her hands, pressing it tightly against her chest.

"Do you... Do you like Conan-kun?"

Not quite expecting that answer to come out of her lips, Haibara turned at her, eyes wide as she gazed back at Ayumi's questiongly face. She looked troubled at the thought of that being actually true, the scientist noticed.

"Of course not," she rolled her eyes, internally wondering what was there to like about that bespectacled, far too short mystery nerd. "I don't feel that way towards him."

The other girl smiled, brightly, rushing back inside the castle with a happy bounce. As she did, Haibara stood behind, eyes still stuck on her back, before frowning.

_That's right. If there is something certain about Kudo-kun is that he absolutely hates making people worry about him._

_Why would he disappear for so long without saying anything to us?_

If they didn't find Conan soon...

She dreaded to think what it could happen.

If it hadn't already, anyway.

* * *

Everyone had disappeared, one by one.

Agasa had vanished when she had turned around.

Genta had gotten struck on the hidden passage Conan had vanished from ─ the fresh blood they had found was definitely his ─ and most likely he had been captured.

Lastly, Mitsuhiko was gone. Both Ayumi and Haibara had gotten their eyes off him, and he was gone the next second.

So, the two girls were alone. Standing in front of the tower that many people believed it was cursed.

"I'll go inside to examine the situation," Haibara told her. "You should hide in the bushes over there."

"But-!" the other girl tried to argue.

"If I don't return by the time you count to three hundred, run away at once," Ayumi's eyes went wide. "If you follow the road in the forest, you might make it."

"Haibara-san!"

"Calm down," Ai smiled at her. "Kudo-kun needs to get that bread, right?"

In response, she clutched the bag with the food closer to her chest, frowning slightly. With a sad, and very scared, look on her eyes the girl watched the other begin to walk away.

What the little scientist didn't expect, however, was the hand suddenly latching to the hem of her sleeve. With a look of bewilderment, Haibara turned around to face her.

She noticed her determined gaze and understood perfectly what was going through her mind.

"... Haibara-san..."

Haibara gazed at her, an unreadable look on her eyes, before she finally smirked.

"Sherry."

Although Ayumi did not understand the meaning of her words at first, she still felt the blood running through her veins freezing solid. Her mouth just hang open, her eyes not leaving the icy cold blue eyes belonging to the girl right in front of her.

"My name is not Haibara Ai," her lips curved even further, letting the other girl see an evil smile making appearance on her face. "I'm known as Sherry. The scientist behind the creation of the highly poisonous drug that Shinichi-san was forced to take... Also, the one responsible for your beloved Kudo-kun's suffering."

Her grip on Haibara went a bit slack, eyes opening widely, in shock, unable to completely grasp the meaning of her words. Stunned upon hearing the truth that had just been revealed to her.

Without any further word, Haibara gave the girl another last look before she disappeared inside the tower.

And Ayumi just stood there, not minding ─ or even realizing ─ the rain that had just started to fall over her head once more, soaking the poor, dumbfounded young girl to the bone.

The only thing she could register at the moment was the large, eerie looking gate that stood in front of her. The door Haibara had just crossed and closed behind her back, leaving her confused and alone with her own thoughts.

With a shook of her head, however, Ayumi frowned and stepped forward.

_I might not completely understand everything, but..._

_There is something I'm certain of._

Not taking a moment to think about it again, the young girl pushed the heavy doors open.

_Haibara-san... Haibara-san is my friend!_

* * *

His head was killing him, that was the only thing that passed through Conan's mind. Hissing a bit, his hand went to the place it hurt the most, only to find that it was sticky. _What... What happened to me? _he could only wonder, dazely, as more sounds started to filter through his confused haze.

People were talking. What could they be talking about?

Ever so slowly, his eyes cracked open, only to see... Well, nothing. He was surrounded by darkness.

And, for some reason, that didn't bring him any comfort at all. More like the opposite.

_The young boy tried to keep his breathing even as he curled into himself, willing himself to be as quiet as possible. He only had one chance to hear what these people were talking about._

_He wouldn't have another chance to live if they caught him, he shuddered at the thought._

_So the child just stayed there, surrounded by darkness, heart pounding heavily against his chest, praying, with all his might, that they would not find him._

A light shining on his face brought him out his daze, causing him to groan and try to cover his eyes. "Conan!" he identified Agasa's voice. "You are awake!"

Sitting up, the boy breathed deeply, trying to get his pounding heart to calm down. _I hate when that happens, _he pressed a hand against his face.

"Are you okay?" Genta asked, and only then Conan noticed he was also sitting there, pointing his wristwatch flashlight right at him. "Your face is a bit pale."

"Of course it is. I just got hit across the head," he let out a huff, laced with annoyance. "So, I see you two got caught as well."

The two of them laughed, awkwardly, causing the boy to roll his eyes, leaning against the wall, listening as they told him that they were locked in, and there was no way to escape.

He frowned, hand going to his chin, stroking it as he thought. There should be a way out, there _had _to be. If they didn't, Mitsuhiko, Haibara and Ayumi would...

_No good, no good. I can't let those negative thoughts in... I need to think in something._

He wondered if the chess pieces had something to do with it. Closing his eyes, he pictured their position on the chessboard.

"Conan-kun!" just as he realized, with a gasp, the code behind it, the three heard a shout from outside, followed a loud banging. "Conan-kun, are you there?!"

"Ah!" Genta exclaimed, clearly recognizing that voice. "It's Mitsuhiko!"

* * *

The moment the two young girls had stumbled across the skeleton of a woman, everything suddenly became clear in Haibara's mind. Just then, she had turned around and felt her blood freezing in her veins at the sight of the old lady standing behind them.

Before dragging Ayumi with her, who hadn't yet understood what what was wrong. That changed when she explained that the skeleton belonged to Mamiya Masuyo, and that the woman that was currently chasing them was pretending to be her.

From under a tile in the floor of the castle, Ayumi's head popped up. Once she was out of the secret passage, the girl began to breathe, heavily, sitting on the cold floor while Haibara began to do the same.

A hand on the scientist's leg prevented her from escaping. Both girls looked down, horrified to see the criminal trying to pull Haibara down with her.

With a squeak, Ayumi rapidly grabbed Haibara's arm. The girl in question looked back at her, a panicked expression on her face. "What are you doing?!" she shouted. "You have to run, Yoshida-san! At this rate...!"

Ayumi just held on, tighter than before.

"Yoshida-san!"

"I won't!" Haibara could only look back at the girl, eyes widening a bit. "I can't let you go anyhow!"

_Why? Why does she keep trying so hard to save me?_

_She knows what I am and what I have done, yet..._

The woman raised her free hand, gripping tightly a metal pipe, causing Haibara to close her eyes shut, waiting for the impact. Which never connected.

Nobody expected a bucket to come from nowhere, knocking the pipe out of the criminal's hands. After taking on what it had happened, even if a bit shocked still, both girls looked up to see what they had expected to see.

Conan was sitting on the rails in the floor above them, feet dangling on the air and his trademark smirk on his face. Mitsuhiko and Genta were right beside him, frowning disapprovingly at the woman that was trying to attack their friends.

"Everyone!" Ayumi brightened.

"You!" the woman couldn't believe it. "But... how?"

"It was thanks to Mitsuhiko," Conan explained, before pushing his glasses closer to the bridge of his nose. "He used the signal from the tracker in my glasses and the Professor's Detective Boys badges to find us."

Mitsuhiko grinned at that.

"It's useless to try running away," Agasa added, as he appeared right beside her. "The missing person, ex-housekeeper Nishika Mitsumi-san," Mitsumi was shocked at his words. "I looked into this region's plastic surgeons I know and immediately knew it was you," he smiled. "I asked if they heard of anyone who curiously requested to have the face of an old woman."

Conan then explained that he knew she was an imposter ever since she had mentioned the changes in passports. The Grand Mistress had stayed in the castle for ten years, so there was absolutely no way she would know that the passport size had changed six years ago.

Then, commented that he had solved the mystery, causing her interest to suddenly peak up. Following the code in the chess board in the garden, the secret passage was revealed by turning the portrait of the grandfather to the left.

The woman instantly forgot about everything and went inside. What she found, however, wasn't the treasure she had spent more than twenty years looking for.

It was a window, welcoming her to a beautiful scenery that she couldn't really enjoy.

In the door, it read:

"_The first one to arrive here will receive my prized castle and this scenery"_

At the realization that she had wasted her entire life, changed her face and orchestrated the fire and all incidents on this tower for _this _she dropped into the floor.

One hour later, when the police arrived, she was still there, her empty look fixed on the ground. Soulless and lifeless.

* * *

The people on the castle had offered the group to have breakfast with them, considering that Conan hadn't eaten anything last night and that he must be hungry ─ and they were right. At this point, the boy was _starving._

"No thanks, we still have food from our camp," despite his hunger, Conan declined the offer. Frankly speaking, he had absolutely no intention to stay in that place any longer, after everything that happened there. "Besides," he smiled while taking the bag Ayumi had been holding for a while now. "This bread is looking pretty good right now."

Ayumi blinked at him for a moment, before grinning brightly, genuinely happy. The other two boys also laughed, cheerfully talking about it to each other while Haibara only watched them.

She didn't say anything, even as Genta stated that he _did _want to stay for breakfast, and Mitsuhiko agreeing. She kept quiet, as Conan huffed, visually annoyed, before reluctantly following the group back inside.

The only thing Haibara did was watch. Silently watch Ayumi as she laughed with her friends, or as she took her hand and, with a cheerful "Come on, Haibara-san," dragged her to the dining room.

Conan, unlike everyone else, noticed the way her eyes narrowed, piercing through the little girl's head, as if wondering something he couldn't tell at the moment.

It wasn't until they were in their way back home that he decided to whisper to her:

"Haibara-san, is there-?"

"Why?"

Blinking, very stupidly, Conan just stared back at her, unable to understand what that answer had to do with anything, until he realized she wasn't talking to _him, _but rather at the little girl sitting on Haibara's other side_. _

Ayumi, like the boy with glasses, didn't get what she meant right away.

"You heard me when I told you, right?" Haibara frowned, eyes adopting a very cold glint. "About my true identity."

The other girl's eyes opened slightly, finally understanding what she was talking about. Mitsuhiko and Genta on the other hand, just looked at each other, feeling completely lost.

And Conan kept on blinking.

"I understood every single word you said at that time," Ayumi replied, holding Haibara's gelid gaze with outstanding ease. "But I don't care at all."

"How can you possibly _not _care at all?"

"Because I don't care about who you _were_, I care about who you _are_," she replied, a sweet smile adorning her face. "And you're one of my friends, Ai-chan! That's all that matters to me."

The strawberry blonde gaped, rendered completely speechless at her words.

"Ah, sorry, it slipped from my mouth!" Ayumi then said, feeling nervous all of sudden. "It's just that I realized that... Megumi-chan, Ruki-chan, Ami-chan... I call all my friends like that, so referring to you as 'Haibara-san' feels a bit..."

_Ayumi-chan is amazing, _Conan couldn't help but think, watching the entire exchange between the only two girls of their group. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't remember seeing the young scientist _that _shocked about something, to the point to leave her out of words.

Soon, the shock seemed to pass and Haibara's mouth closed.

"It's okay, I don't mind."

Smirking a bit to her, she crossed her arms and turned to look out the window beside Conan ─ avoiding to see Ayumi's bright grin in the process.

"I'm so happy, Ai-chan! You can call me 'Ayumi-chan' if you want!"

From his spot, however, Conan could see it. The smirk had turned into a sweet, genuinely happy smile.

And it was contagious, it seemed, because he found his lips tugging upwards as well.

_I'm glad for you, Haibara-san._

"Hey!"

The two girls and the young detective turned to the source of the voice, blinking a bit at the sight of Genta and Mitsuhiko, both frowning in annoyance.

"Don't leave us out!" the bigger boy loudly voiced.

"What's going on?" the other questioned.

_Ah, I completely forgot about those two, _Conan laughed, dryly.

"Well, let's just say that the cat is out of the bag," Haibara said, mysteriously.

_Hey, hey..._

"Eh?"

"I'm Sherry."

"EH?!"

The little sleuth let out a tired sigh, resting his head against his open palm, focusing on the passing trees outside his window, doing his best to ignore the commotion that had just started in the same car he was in.

_This might take a while._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: That's actually a cool idea! Thanks for suggesting it ;)

Dy: The first time Conan called Ayumi as Ayumi-chan was actually back at chapter 20... It has been a long time since then, lol! I never thought about Saguru being Ai's relative XD As interesting as that idea sounds, however, I don't think it will happen in this story.

Asahina Chihaya: I'm not completely sure, but I guess that could happen in the near future.


	41. The Mystery of the English Teacher

**File Forty-One: The Mystery of the English Teacher**

Shinichi was running.

_"Onii-chan," the voice on the other side of the phone was hushed for some reason._

The snow was soaking his clothes, dripping his hair wet even though he had a hoodie covering his head. His breathing was ragged, too.

_"I'm in my room, I think they don't know I'm home..."_

But he didn't care. He just focused on going as fast as his legs could take him.

_"I left my shoes and wristwatch in the living room. I don't think I can make it without them seeing me..."_

Finally reaching the stairs, the detective began to climb them up, two at a time.

_"I don't know how long I have until they find me."_

His hand rested against the door handle, straining his ears to try hear something. But it was far too quiet inside.

So gathering all his courage, he began to, ever so slowly, open the door.

_"And I think they have Ran-neechan."_

Only to find himself face to face with a stunned Ran.

The two of them stood right in front of each other, in silence, blinking confusedly at each other. It wasn't until a few long minutes that Ran gasped, seemingly shaking herself off her stupor.

"Shinichi?!" she breathed out, ushering him inside. "What are you doing here? You're all soaked wet!"

Shinchi just couldn't stop staring at her, bamboozled.

"Geez, you could have just knocked, you know," Ran continued, as he let himself be gently pushed further inside the room. "I heard some noises outside and I got worried. Of course it had to be you lingering around instead of-"

"Ran," finally snapping out of his confused haze, the high school turned around, gripping Ran's shoulders, tightly. "Ran, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah?" she looked back at him, as if he had grown a second head or something.

It was at that moment that Shinichi finally realized what was going of.

_Damn it, that brat... _his eyebrow twitched, violently. _He played me like a song._

With a tired huff, he turned around. "Where is Conan?" he asked, irritation sipping on his voice.

"Conan-kun is sleeping," she replied, confused. "It's late, after all."

"Like hell he is," he breathed out. "He tricked me, that little demon..."

Realization dawned on Ran at those words. "So, does that mean that the only reason you are here...?"

Suddenly forgetting about his negative thoughts about his little brother, Shinichi's head snapped towards his childhood friend's direction, and he frowned at the sight of her eyes, sad and resigned, that were just gazing at the ground, as if it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.

"It's not like I didn't want to," her eyes flickered back to his face as he said that. "But you must understand, Ran, that... that _this _is dangerous. More dangerous that you can imagine."

"And I suppose this happened because you stuck your nose where it doesn't belong, right?" she said, with a very plain voice, causing Shinichi to jump a bit. "You reckless detective freak."

He tried to look offended by that, even if his soft smile betrayed him. _Why is it always like this?_

"Anyway, _this _reckless detective has to go now," he began to head to the door. "Tell Conan he is lucky that it's late and that it's a school night, but he isn't going to get off the hook that easily. I got serious heart palpitations, you know."

"Ah, wait!" Shinichi paused, watching as Ran suddenly seemed to run off to the coffee table and pick something up. She returned right away and offered it to him, her cheeks suddenly going red. "Here."

He blinked at the beautifully adorned box before hesitantly taking it between his hands. At the realization of what day it was now, his face adopted the same colour than Ran's.

_Today is February 14th._

With a jerky nod, and an awkward 'thank you', Shinichi left the agency.

Ran's smile was still on place, even after he was gone.

Just like the little boy's, who had been peeping in from a partly closed door since the very beginning.

* * *

The last few weeks had been hectic for the young detective.

And it wasn't because the very high number of murders he would encounter on a daily basis ─ seriously, he had already gotten used to that, as sad as that sounded ─ but because a couple of cases that had caused his anxiety come to a peak.

The first one had been the kidnapping of a foreigner old man called James Black that, in itself, hadn't been _that _out of this world ─ considering all he had been through on his life, anyway. But there was also this man, that would be constantly look at them from his car as they chased the patrol car James had been in.

Even if, unlike the boy, she hadn't actually seen him, Haibara had told Conan she had a strong feeling of being watched. He wondered if it was that ability of hers to recognize members of the Black Organization only by the scent ─ as crazy as that sounded anyway.

The man with the black wool hat was definitely dangerous ─ Akai Shuichi, as he had heard when he was with the police after the bus incident.

"_Do you remember what the man you met in the woods looked like?" _there was also what Ran had said at that case in the villa, where Sonoko had invited her to make some Valentine chocolates. Someone had mentioned seeing a man with a black wool hat in walking in the middle of the snow storm. "_He might be someone we know."_

It had turned out to be just Makoto, but the feeling of dread that Conan had lingered after that.

Not to say that there was something about the incident of Haido City Hotel that had yet to leave his mind.

"Yo, kid."

And it didn't help that, as soon as he stepped inside the Professor's house, the first face the was the one and only Great Detective of the West, grinning at him from his spot on the couch, as if he owned the place.

The child just blinked at him, taking on the situation, before huffing. "What are you doing here, Hattori?" he asked, very annoyed.

"I called him," Agasa confessed, walking right beside the older detective, scratching the back of his head. "I have seen you have been so stressed out lately, and I thought Hattori-kun here could give you a hand."

"More than give me a hand, this guy is going to give me a headache."

"You ungrateful little brat," Hattori huffed, offended. "Have you forgotten I have wasted days and days of my life helping you out?"

Conan clapped his mouth shut, unable to argue against that.

_Next time, I'm going to Ekoda myself. It's not like it's that far from here or anything..._

He might find it difficult to explain to Ran and everyone else why he would want to go there, of all places, but he guessed that it was better than dealing with Hattori.

"So, what is it?" Hattori asked, standing up. "What is in your mind?" he then bent over close to him, sticking his finger on the little one's forehead. "This face says everything. You have got a lead, don't you?"

Agasa blinked, while the child growled softly. "If you don't take that finger off me, I'm going to bite you, I swear."

"Oh?" with a teasing grin, the detective stood back. "When did you turn into a rabid dog?"

The glare that was sent his way was enough for the Osakan to shut up. The child then sighed, tiredly, taking a moment to calm down before he decided to speak.

"Do you remember when I told you about that hotel incident?"

"Of course I do," Hattori replied. "You and that little scientist were dangerously close to one of their members, Pisco, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've been thinking about it for awhile. Why did Pisco have the party handkerchief that he didn't have before?"

"An accomplice," the teenager echoed his thoughts. "Someone who knew he was going to be one of those checked gave it to Pisco so he wouldn't be suspected."

"And it was most definitely _her. _The only one between the people that had the purple handkerchief that hasn't appeared in public since then," with a frown, Conan stated. "Chris Vineyard, the American movie star."

The other two in the room gasped, completely shocked.

"Chris?!" the old professor exclaimed. "The second generation actress?!"

"The woman with the big breasts?" Heiji asked, shocked.

Conan sent a look to the Osakan detective's way. _What's with that reaction? _he couldn't help but think before, with a shake of his head, pulling a note from his pocket and giving it to Agasa, with an internet address belonging to a fansite awaiting her return, asking him to get some information from it. Anything.

"Is it there a strange foreign woman around you?" Heiji asked.

"Well," Conan hesitated at first. "I suppose there _is _Jodie-sensei, Ran-neechan's new English teacher but..."

Soon, he realized he shouldn't really have said anything, because he found himself, half an hour later, following Hattori out of the elevator of Jodie's apartment. He could only sigh, tiredly, as they stood in front of her door, before reminding him for the eleventh time that they were only there to _watch. _

"So, what are we going to say to her?" then, Hattori asked the child.

"Eh?" Conan blinked.

"What? You don't know?"

"Of course not! You were the one you wanted to come here!"

"But you're the one that knows her! Come on, don't tell me you haven't thought of anything!"

"You didn't either!"

"Yeah, but you're the super intelligent little brat, aren't you?!"

"And aren't you supposed to be the Great Detective of the West, for that matter?!"

"That's true, but-"

For the twelfth time this hour, little Conan sighed again.

"You know what, just drop it," he turned around. "The only thing we will manage at this point is to get her suspicious."

"Idiot! After coming this far-!" for emphasis, the Osakan high school detective rested his palm against the wall.

Only to slap the buzzer. The two of them frozen at the sound, slowly directing their eyes to Hattori's hand, before they jumped, startled, when their heard Jodie's voice through the intercom.

Conan saved the day by answering, telling her he was just passing by and wanted to visit.

They were told to wait a minute ─ which turned out to be much more than a minute. The door was then opened to reveal the woman in question, hair soaked wet and wearing nothing else but a bathrobe, claiming she had taken a shower.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, clearly referring to Heiji. "You must be Cool Kid's friend?"

"Y-Yes," the teen replied.

As the woman turned around to let them inside, Conan gave Hattori a pointed look, not failing to notice the way his cheeks were red. But he didn't say anything, at least until after they had asked to use their restroom, and entered together.

"What?" Heiji asked, feeling rather annoyed at the glances the little boy was sending his way.

"I'm so telling Kazuha-neechan about this."

The terrified expression on the detective's face after that moment was priceless. At the sight of it, the child had to clamp a hand to his mouth, doing his best to retrain his laugh and do what they were supposed to do. _Come on, this is serious._

His laugh suddenly died down when he touched the hair dryer. It was still warm.

Hattori and Conan exchanged knowing looks, realizing the same thing. The teacher had finished showering before their arrival, but had most likely taken another one to gain some extra time.

For what, though?

There wasn't anything else they could find, so they left the restroom right away.

As the three were leaving the apartment, a long time later, Conan had to hold down his laugh for the second time. Jodie had told him she didn't know he had another foreigner friend, which had confused him at first.

"Your Japanese is so strange," she had said.

"Idiot!" was Heiji's loud reply. "Osaka-ben is perfect Japanese!"

"Osaka-ben? Is that a boxed lunch?"

The child couldn't hold it in any longer at that.

"It's a dialect, a _dialect..._" he turned to the youngest of the group. "And you! Stop laughing!"

He didn't, even after they had gone down the elevator, resulting in a grumpy Heiji muttering something about how his dialect was perfect Japanese the entire way down. Jodie was mostly confused about their reaction.

They hadn't even made it a few steps outside the elevator when a phone started to ring, loudly so. Both the Osakan and the American turned to the child, watching him pull out his phone, look at the screen, and groan for some reason.

"Sorry, I think I need to take this."

Heiji shrugged, and went to walk ahead with the teacher while the kid answered the call. Even if he was curious about the way he seemed to groan at the person on the other side, and mutter something under his breath, he didn't try to spy.

From the look on the child's eyes, he could tell it was Kudo. From the way he seemed to apologize ─ even if he didn't seem to regret his actions ─ he could tell Kudo was _mad._

"Look, I already told you I'm sorry," Conan rolled his eyes. "I don't know what else you want me to say."

A long, exhausted sigh came from the other side of the phone.

"It's not about what I want you to say, it's about what I want you to _understand_," the high schooler stressed out. "You can't just keep playing cupid, Conan. This is not a game, you know. This is extremely dangerous."

The child quietened down at that, busy with his own thoughts, until he continued. "Then, what do you want me to do?" Conan questioned, a bit tickled off. "Am I supposed to watch Ran-neechan crying in silence with my arms crossed?"

Shinichi seemed to hesitate.

"No, of course not," he finally said. "But you can't just pull those kind of tricks."

Conan huffed. "Would you have come if I didn't do that?"

"That's no excuse, it wasn't funny. You genuinely scared me," his brother was definitely mad, the kid could tell. "Wouldn't you be terrified if you thought _they _had found the people important to you and were about to end their lives?"

The little boy's eyes opened slightly at that, before he focused his eyes at the ground, now understanding exactly _how _much this had affected him. He genuinely didn't think he would have thought about the men in black, and now he felt terribly stupid.

_It should have been obvious._

To be fair, he hadn't really thought things through. He had only saw Ran crying quietly on her father's office and had acted by impulse.

"... I'm sorry," he replied, genuinely ashamed now. "I didn't..."

"It's okay, I guess. As long as you understand," the high school detective let out a long sigh. "Guess I can't really blame you, but..."

Shinichi had trailed off into silence, and none of them did anything to break it for a moment or so. It wasn't until Conan was close to the door of Jodie's building that he timidly spoke up.

"You still accepted Ran-neechan's chocolate, didn't you?" at the affirmative hum, he continued. "Why didn't you, in return...?"

There was a brief pause, which told the child that his brother most likely hadn't expected that question.

"You said it before. It's because you and I are the same, Conan," he finally answered, only managing to confuse the youngest Kudo until he explained, his grief sipping on his voice. "I don't want her to cry anymore."

Now he understood what he meant with that, but he didn't say anything. Just listened, quietly.

"If I told her how I feel about her, she would just miss me even more. And I don't want her to suffer anymore... Even if that means I no longer have a place in her heart," there was a chuckle, yet Conan couldn't see the humor in his words. "Seems pretty immature of me, doesn't it?"

"... No, it is not," his tone was bleak. "It is not immature at all, Onii-chan," Conan replied, honestly, as they stepped out the building. "It seems like _I _have been the immature one all along."

"Well, I suppose you can be forgiven for that because, you know, you're _eight_."

"And you are mentally three, give yourself a break as well."

"I don't know if I should thank you for your compassion or just end this call right now."

"It is a bit weird, though, that you are telling me all this after you took her to _that _restaurant a few months ago," Conan pointed out, watching but not paying attention to the woman, camera in hand, talking with Hattori and Jodie. "I genuinely thought you were going to confess... if not proposing to her."

"I was _not _going to propose to her," he could basically see him rolling his eyes at that. "But I was really going to tell her all about my feelings. Somebody talked some sense into me, though."

All his attention went to his phone at that. "Someone?"

"Yeah. I didn't listen to her at first, but realized she was right at the end."

"Was it Haibara-san?" Conan heard an affirmative sound, and paused for a moment more than strictly necessary. "... Say, were you and Haibara-san close before?"

"Yeah," there was some confusion on his voice, though. "Why are you asking me all these questions all of sudden?"

The young boy blinked.

_... Why, indeed?_

After hesitating for a moment or two, his mouth opened, to finally speak, when a phone fell into the ground from the sky, causing Heiji to move closer to pick it up, undoubtedly curious about it.

Before a body landed right next to him.

Conan paused, taking on the scene for a beat.

"... And I think this is the moment where I end this conversation."

"Huh?"

"A body just fell from the sky."

"Huh?!"

_Click._

* * *

Turned out the victim, Takai, was Jodie's neighbor from the 21th floor, and the word '_murder' _was soon added before the word '_victim' _as soon as they saw that one of the curtains in his room was separated from the rail.

Because, of course, they had inspected the room before the police had even arrived. Inspector Megure wasn't pleased, but let it slide with a bit more than a huff of annoyment.

A photo that the victim's girlfriend had taken just before the crime had been committed showed Takai hanging from the curtain, proving that he hadn't killed himself.

At some point, Megure got fed up with the three of them hanging around, so he basically hushed them off the victim's apartment.

All they knew about the victim was that he had been drinking with some friends before Kawakami Noboru had taken him to his room. There was also that phone, which he had seemingly tried to put back inside his room until he fell.

There was also the fact that the room had been locked. _Typical._

As Conan and Heiji were discussing the case, Jodie watching them with a suspicious look from behind, Hattori's phone had gone off. Picking it up, a loud voice that even Conan managed to hear from his spot had caused the detective from Osaka to pale considerably.

"We were supposed to meet at 8:00 PM!" she screamed, after Heiji strolled to the balcony to get more reception. "I have written it my memo."

"... Ah!" Heiji gasped. "I got it!"

"Huh?"

As he ended the call, looking around and focusing his gaze on the window where the victim had fallen to his death, Heiji's lips curved into a smirk.

The child walked closer. Judging by the knowing expression on his face, Hattori could tell he had understood the trick as well.

So they stood there, on the balcony, gazing upon the street.

"Say, Hattori," the child spoke up. "What are we going to do about _that?"_

"Ah, you mean the photo that teacher has just taken of us?" he asked, a serious look on his eyes, and Conan nodded. "Don't worry about anything. I have a plan."

"I'm not sure if I want to hear about it."

* * *

Conan's nerves had increased tenfold when Jodie asked for her favourite alcoholic drink and was brought a bottle of Sherry, of all things. _Sherry_.

_This is stupid, _he tried to shook it off. _I can't just get nervous as soon as I heard the name of an ordinary alcoholic drink._

The tension on his body lingered, however, even after Jodie got herself drunk and went to sleep. Right after that, Hattori put on practice his plan.

The English teacher woke up a few minutes later with the sound of her phone. It looked like she had received a text.

Her eyes narrowed, slightly, when she read it.

_"Who are you?"_

"Hey, sensei!" she heard Heiji call from the other side. "Did you get that email?"

"_Oh, yes! _It's a lovely mail!"

Conan blinked, confusedly. "Hey, what kind of mail-?"

"Ah, nothing for you to worry about," then, Conan groaned, loudly so, when the hand fell on top of his hair, patting him. _What am I, a dog?_

As a result, the child was forced to watch the older detective calling the teacher, talking with her for a while ─ Heiji said something along the lines of '_how about the text I sent you?' _which caused Conan to be even more curious about what he had sent her ─ before he started claiming that he couldn't hear her well.

Not long after that, Jodie desperate screams of '_help!'_ filled the room.

The case had been solved right after that. All along, the culprit had been Kawakami Noboru, who had moved the victim's bed then called him, only to keep repeating that he couldn't hear him well. Takai had tried to go to the balcony to get more reception, only to fall to his death because he had mistaken it with the window.

"Goodbye, Takai," Noboru had gone white at the sound of his own voice, and turned around to see the child holding the victim's phone. "You can apologize to Hiraya-kun from here."

As it turned out, Takai had managed to hit the record button, leaving behind the proof they needed to take him away, to pay the price of the crime he had committed to avenge the death of his friend, Hiraya Sumiyo, a subordinate employee Takai had abused and drove to suicide.

"Here you are," Hattori handed Jodie her camera. "Your camera from earlier."

A light smirk crossed Conan's features, as he watched the detective of the West taking to the English teacher, who remained completely unaware of the truth behind Hattori's actions. _She might have been acting when she walked to the window, _the child thought. _But she didn't fake being drunk._

And because of that, the two detectives had taken the chance to take the camera and erase the photograph she had taken of them.

But why had she done such a thing? Conan didn't know if he wanted to know or not.

He just hoped, with all his might, that Hattori hadn't gotten himself dragged into this mess.

"Conan-kun," the child's attention was brought away from the pair talking towards Takagi, who had kneeled down right next to him. "Do you have a moment?"

The young boy blinked, owlishly, unable to guess what this man could possibly want from him, who seemed to hesitate for some reason.

"Have you seen somebody suspicious near Mouri-san?"

Okay, so he didn't really expect that.

"... Not exactly," he replied, unsure. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Takagi glanced to Inspector Megure, who was just talking with some other officers, before turning around and bending closer to the child.

"Right now, the Inspector and I haven't decided if we should tell him or not," he whispered at him. "But it seems someone is checking up on Mouri-san."

"Eh?" his eyes widened at the information.

"It all disappeared from police headquarters," Takagi explained, a serious glint crossing his eyes. "The case reports that Mouri-san had been in charge of until now have been stolen."

Conan didn't like the feeling of dread that was coursing through his veins, or the chill that ran through his back, causing his hair to stand to an end.

"Superintendent Matsumoto had kept copies so it didn't cause any problems in court but, surprisingly, the stolen reports were sent back to the headquarters last night in an envelope with no address or name."

"Do you know when they went missing?" he asked, as composed as humanly possible.

"Let me see..." Takagi began to think. "I think it was... Ah! On the day you guys were involved in that bus jacking incident."

For a moment or so, Conan couldn't remember how to breathe properly, air stuck on his lungs, frozen as the implications of the officer's words dawned on the young boy.

His terror must have showed on his face, because Takagi's serious face changed into a softer one, a forced laugh coming out his throat. "It could also be someone's prank," he tried to reassure the kid. "Anyway, if you see anyone suspicious around Mouri-san call the police right away."

He managed to slip back on his sweet childish facade. "Okay," he nodded, with a smile. "I understand."

Takagi returned the smile, as he stood up to leave. Not even a second after the older man's gaze had broken off him, the child let his mask drop and a frown carve deeply on his face.

By the time Heiji finished talking with Jodie, Conan was gone.

_Where did he go? _the detective wondered, blinking at the empty space the child had been in not long ago.

* * *

Conan was running.

His breathing was ragged, as he forced his feet to move as fast as his little legs could take him, phone pressing against his ear. He cursed, loudly and in a way no eight year-old should, unable to get anyone to answer.

"Ran-neechan!" he threw the door of the agency open, having arrived there in record time. "Occhan!"

Heart pounding heavily against his chest, the little boy stood in the middle deserted room. Occhan wasn't drinking, as he would always do, watching Okino Yoko's TV show. Ran wasn't complaining to his lazy father, welcoming the child home, or even scolding for getting home _this _late.

The sound of a forgotten television was the only thing breaking the otherwise ominous silence. _They left it on, _he observed, before rushing upstairs. _That's right, it's dinnertime! They must be..._

They weren't.

Without the TV back on Kogoro's office, the quietness he would otherwise appreciate a lot was sickening. He rushed to the kitchen, and he froze.

The abandoned ingredients and cooking tools sat, very still, over the counter.

And the boy's very wide eyes just stared at them, cold sweat tracking down his forehead, mind instantly thinking of the worse case scenario.

Akai Shuichi's face appeared on his mind.

All of sudden, his sight went black and he jumped, scared out of his mind when a pair of hands pressed themselves against his eyes, behind his glasses.

"Guess who?"

It took a moment more than necessary for Conan's soul to come back to his body. "R-Ran-neechan," he breathed out, still shaken.

"Exactly right!" she grinned, before chuckling a bit. "Sorry, I scared you, didn't I?"

"Where have you been?" the boy asked, completely disregarding the question from before.

As it turned out, Ran had gone at the supermarket because Kogoro had hit the jackpot in a horse race ─ in fact, the man was probably bragging with the neighbors right now. The great detective had been so overjoyed he had told Ran to go get beef and sake.

Only minutes after she had explained everything, Conan remembered how to breathe again.

_I guess I kind of deserved it, _he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. _Didn't I, Onii-chan?_

"Just you wait, Conan-kun. I'll make a steak that's as delicious as a five-star restaurant's!"

There was something that had yet to leave his mind, though.

"Say, Ran-neechan..."

"What is it?"

The child hesitated at fist, causing Ran to blink at him. She watched him focus his eyes to the ground, nervous for some reason, causing her to smile at him, kindly.

So, with a sigh, the kid decided to speak his mind. "At that time we were in that house in the mountains, you know, where you made Shinichi-niichan's Valentine's chocolate," he began. "You said something about knowing a man with a black wool hat..."

"Ah, yeah," she nodded, turning back to continue cooking. "You know him as well, Conan-kun. You were there."

"Eh?"

"Don't you remember? The other time, when I went with Shinichi to visit you and your parents," she explained. "The man that asked us if we had seen a Japanese man with long hair."

His eyes opened, finally remembering what she was talking about. He didn't know how he had forgotten about it, the man with the wool hat and the long hair ─ it was shorter now, though.

_Wait a second... Wasn't he part of the FBI?!_

_Nonsense, what would a FBI agent be doing in Japan, of all places?_

_... Why?_

"Speaking of Valentine's..." Conan's eyes raised to meet Ran's stern ones. "There _is _something we still haven't discussed yet, Conan-kun."

His lip twitched upwards. "What is it, Ran-neechan?"

He definitely didn't like the severe, hour-long lecture he had to put with after that.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I don't know. I mean, it could happen, but not even I know if it will XD

Dy: Yeah, I don't blame you for forgetting all those details. It has been a long while since I published them that even I have to read again some older chapters so I don't forget anything, lol! And about what you said about Ai, I have actually been considering giving her at least one gadget for self defense since, considering Agasa initially gave Conan some of them to protect himself, it wouldn't make sense for Ai not to have anything, even if she is in a much more dangerous position than him. Your ideas sound really cool, though! I will make sure to take them into consideration if I ever try to pull something like that ;)

Yuni: Hopefully it will happen soon, but I can't make any promises since most of the time things don't happen the way I plan them to XD And thank you for your interesting suggestion! I will definitely think about it:)


	42. Without Saying Goodbye

**File Forty-Two: Without Saying Goodbye**

Sometimes, little Conan wondered...

_Why is this my life?_

There were many, many situations where this question had crossed his mind. This particular instance, however, that thought had been born due to Ayumi, who had tried to pet a street kitten, unintentionally scaring it and making the cat to run away.

At this very moment, he could be home, reading a good novel until night, but no. Of course not.

Of course Ayumi had to chase the cat.

Of course Genta and Mitsuhiko had followed.

And, of course, Haibara had given him a _look, _clearly stating that he needed to come along as well, even without uttering a single word.

So there he was. Chasing after a random kitten. _Joy_.

"Where did that kitty go?" Ayumi asked, clearly upset.

They had lost the track of the animal a few minutes ago, and now they were simply walking around, hoping to spot the cat as they did so, but no avail.

Conan looked up, wondering if the cat had somehow climbed up a tree without them noticing. _Nothing._

As he carefully studied the trees, something was brought into his attention. Even when covered in February snow, Conan could see it.

_Cherry blossom trees, huh?_

Absentmindedly, he moved closer to one of them and just gazed. _It's still winter, _his hand slowly raised up to rest against the surface of the trunk. So cold. _Spring is a bit too far away._

Until then, this tree would remain like this. Colourless... Almost dead, even.

But spring would eventually arrive, and this tree would come back to life. Colour will be brought forward once more, adorning everything around with its beautiful flower petals flowing with the breeze.

Only for a few days, though, before everything went back to the way it was.

_We humans are not that different, are we?_

Life was beautiful, but terribly short. It was gone, in the blink of an eye.

_Ephemeral._

Blinking twice, Conan took a small step back. That word, just now...

_Ephemeral._

What was up with that weird feeling every single time he repeated it on his head?

Conan massaged his temples. _I must be tired, _he figured.

"Ah, you found it, Ai-chan!"

At the sound of Ayumi's excited voice, the boy turned towards the source. Mitsuhiko and Genta were standing there, in front of a random wall in the side of one of the many houses set beside the street. It was surrounded by all kinds of weeds and plants, letting the boy know that it was most likely abandoned.

He found it weird, however, because the girls were nowhere to be seen.

But then he saw Ayumi's head popping out from between the bushes, causing him to walk closer, surprise etched on his face.

As Haibara came up, the kitten between her arms, the boy noticed it. There was a hole that connected the inside with the outside the house, covered by the leaves of the plants around.

_How did she know there was such a place?_

He did not ask, however. Just watched, cluelessly, as she smiled down at the small animal, in a rather gentle way she would _never _do for anybody else.

"Not '_it'," _patiently, corrected her friend. "It's '_her'."_

Mitsuhiko took her with him after that, promising to find a proper home for the kitten.

_Well, _Conan sighed. _I guess that's a case closed... Can I go home now?_

Luckily for him, he could and did.

For the next few days, nothing out of the ordinary happened. One case here and there, but there wasn't anything he couldn't solve in a more than a couple of minutes ─ if anything, it was harder to get Kogoro to realize the truth than doing it himself.

But then, weekend came along.

"Isn't it obvious?" Conan just looked back at the girl, frowning slightly. "There is no place for a traitor."

He had been wondering how long until she let out another of those negative comments, that Conan knew it was the result of the girl projecting her own feelings, only concealed so people wouldn't realize.

They had been on their way back home after an exciting soccer match between Tokyo Spirits and Noir Tokyo. At that time, they had been talking about the match that was about to start any moment now, where Big Osaka would play. and Ayumi had voiced that she couldn't understand why Higo Ryusuke would be booed by his own team supporters every time he got the ball, every single game.

Conan had explained that Higo had been played for Noir Tokyo before so those that supported Big Osaka, their biggest rival, didn't like him at all. And then, Haibara had said _that _phrase which had caused the boy to have _that _reaction.

"Well, isn't it true?" she added, clearly noticed the way Conan's face had changed. "Isn't he hated by both the opposing team and his team?"

"Noir and Big never got along well, so the gangs of Big can't get used to cheering for someone who used to be forward of the enemy team," the boy replied, with an raise of his eyebrow. "I guess that's to be expected. For _soccer._"

"Now that I think of it," Agasa commented, completely unaware of the true meaning behind the scientist's words. "I saw Higo on the front cover of a sports newspaper. The heading was '_Is Higo Moving to Spain?', _if I remember correctly."

"Ah, that was also on the sport news!" Mitsuhiko commented. "They were saying that he might have gone to Big to get money to go to Spain."

"What a jerk," huffed Genta.

"Hey, hey," Conan tried to dissuade them. "Aren't you taking it a bit too seriously? It's just a rumor after all..."

"But if the rumor is true," they turned around to face Haibara. "His life would become easier."

Her head raised. Her gaze might have fixed on the blue sky above, but to Conan, her eyes seemed to be looking at something else entirely. Something far, far away that nobody but her could see.

"Because he can forget everything and run away to a place far away where people don't disapprove of him."

The other three children exchanged looks with each other, before looking back at Haibara, concern evident on their faces. None of them had the courage, however, to say anything.

Ai still noticed Ayumi stepping ahead, her mouth opening to say anything yet failing to find the right words to say.

"Just kidding," she simply added, as she walked right past the group.

Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi visually brightened at her response, relieved to hear that she was only joking, skipping ahead so they would catch with their friend. As they did that, they came across a television store and rushed there, so they could watch the match ─ Noir Tokyo vs Big Osaka ─ that was about to start.

Conan on the other hand, just watched the girl. _What's up with her today? _he turned around, meeting with Agasa's eyes. Both of them sighed, loudly, before starting to walk towards the group, in a slower pace.

"By the way, Professor," Conan asked. "Did you find out about what I asked you about?"

Agasa's face went serious, as he moved closer to the child. He noticed that the reason the kid wanted to talk about this now was that all his friends, including ─ especially ─ Haibara were out of hearing range. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about these things around the young scientist.

"Yeah, I spoke with her fans after sneaking into their chatroom... The actress, Sharon Vineyard is famous but her daughter Chris' life is kept private."

He then explained to him that, other than in films, the first time she had appeared in front of the media was two years ago at her mother's funeral. At that time, a reporter had tried to ask her a load of questions, which she did not answer, at least until he had asked '_Is there something you don't want us to know?'_

Her smile had been cold as she replied:

"_A secret makes a woman, woman."_

"There was also a famous Japanese actress at the funeral," Agasa added. "Everyone's attention was on Chris, so no one remembered who the actress was."

Conan's eyes opened slightly at that, until he composed himself again. _I think I have quite a good idea of who this actress was._

"Hmph! Karma," before the professor could ask what was wrong, noticing the troubled expression on the boy's eyes, they heard a voice laughing arrogantly. "That's what he gets for betraying Noir Tokyo."

Both of them turned around, just to see another man standing in front of the television, so they instantly moved closer to the group, joining them. In the screen he could see Higo, sitting on the ground while holding his injured knee.

The man left right after that, leaving the three children wondering where they had seen his face ─ he seemed to be oddly familiar to them, for some reason. Conan then explained to them that he was Akano Kadotake, a stupid Noir Tokyo hooligan that enjoyed making trouble in matches, causing him to be kicked out from any stadiums. He even had a website where he proudly showed off his questionable actions.

"Anyway, shouldn't we get going?" asked Conan, once he noticed Genta focusing on the match once more.

"Wait! It's at a really good part!" the boy complained.

"Hey, hey... " the bespectacled one wanted to press him, not having a desire to stand in the sidewalk for, at least, forty-five minutes straight, no matter how much he loved soccer.

"It's okay," Mitsuhiko reassured them. "I have a radio."

Once it was settled, the friends nodded at each other with a grin on their faces, and started to walk. Only Haibara remained, her eyes still focused on the TV in front of her.

"Ai-chan," Ayumi called. "We're leaving."

"A-Ah, yeah."

With a last glance towards the match she was watching, the girl followed the other.

In the screen, Higo had fallen again. He was frowning, as he heard the entire stadium booing at him, clearly not wanting him in such a place.

* * *

Conan mentally cursed Genta for his impatience.

The big boy had been in a hurry to get home so he could see the match because of that they had gotten in that train, instead of waiting for the next one. As a result, they all were squished between people, the small place packed with loads of Tokyo Noir and Tokyo Spirit supporters.

If things couldn't get worse, that annoying hooligan from before was also there.

Holding in another sigh, Conan absently looked around, eager to occupy his mind with _anything _until they reached their destination, hoping that it would, somehow, make time pass by faster. But there wasn't anything interesting at all ─ just a bunch of sweaty adults that shifted, uncomfortably, in what little space they had.

Until his eyes focused on Mitsuhiko and noticed that, for some reason, he was blushing madly. It didn't take him long to realize the reason, since he saw the strawberry blonde head that was close ─ very close ─ to the freckled boy, seemingly trying to listen to the match, but failing to notice the proximity with the other child.

Now, _that _wasn't unusual. Conan clearly remembered the other time at that blue old castle, when she had done exactly the same thing while trying to take a peek of his notes.

Like so Conan found himself watching, in complete silence, as Mitsuhiko stuttered, visually nervous, and Haibara didn't seem to notice it, just asking questions about the game.

"Conan-kun?" he started, slightly, when he heard Ayumi pronouncing his name. He turned around to look into her concerned, and confused eyes. "Is something wrong? You look troubled."

_Do I? _he blinked owlishly a few times.

Not that he had the time to answer, because the crowded train soon came into a stop, almost knocking Ayumi off her feet ─ luckily, he was there to catch her before she could hit her jaw against the floor or something.

Everything was a chaos after that, with loads people moving to the door so they could get off in their stop in time. By the corner of his eye, however, Conan noticed something.

The hooligan had suddenly dropped to the ground, for some reason.

Because of that, he rushedly tried to get to him, but found himself swimming against the current in a sea of legs. When he managed to pass through, however, he found himself freezing on the spot.

Akano Kadotake lied on the floor of the train, over a pool of his own blood.

Clearly, he had been stabbed in the stomach by the knife that had been dropped at his side. The design in the handle was a bit weird, though.

* * *

_Why is it always three? _Conan couldn't help but question himself, as he watched the three suspects talking with Inspector Megure a distance away.

One of them was a supporter of Tokyo Spirits, while the other two were of Noir Tokyo. One of them was a woman, the other two men. One of them...

The boy shook his head ─ the differences between them were countless, and he couldn't see the relation between them and the case.

There was two things that they had in common, though. All three of them had been in an incredibly crowded train, and the three had bought their tickets before the match ended. Whoever was the culprit, they had done such a thing so they could stalk their victim without losing him in the middle of the flow of people.

His eyes opened, slightly, when he noticed something. In Oba Etsutoshi's back there was a nine, and the name 'Higo' clearly written on it. He was a Noir Tokyo supporter.

"Eh?" suddenly, Ayumi voiced. "Ai-chan isn't here."

Conan looked around, noticing that she was right about that.

"Oh," Mitsuhiko replied. "She said she had to use the bathroom-"

"Nevermind that, what about Big's game?" Genta interrupted him. "You were listening to the radio, right?"

"It seems as though I dropped my radio while we were getting off the train."

Watching his friends talking amongst each other, the bespectacled boy frowned slightly, before silently slipping away without anyone noticing. Calmly, he went up the stairs, looking around until he found her_._

Haibara was there, in the middle of a group of people, eyes focused on the screen in front of her, not taking her gaze away from Higo, who was running straight to the goal with the ball on his feet. Her eyes widened a bit when he kicked it, only to hit the goal post.

The booing was still far too loud in her ears.

"I didn't take you for a fan."

Startled by the sudden presence, Haibara spun around to see Conan, watching the game with an uninterested look as he simply stood by her side.

"Or maybe you're just projecting?" he added, then continued upon noticing her surprised look. "Noir means '_black' _in French," the tips of his lips curved, as if he was about to say a great joke. "The betrayer from the black team."

Only that none of them found it funny.

"He also had a reason to leave the team," Conan continued, even if the girl had looked away with a shrug. "Shinichi-niichan told me once that Higo-san has a half brother by the name of Endo Rikuo. Until last year, he was a sub-defender in the J-League in Noir."

The girl looked at him by the corner of her eye, letting him know he had her attention.

"This year, Noir Tokyo made Endo-san quit," Haibara seemed to be surprised by that information. "Which means the reason they let Endo-san in was to get Higo-san to join the team. But they let Endo-san in as a trainer. And I think you know how this story ended, right?"

Before she could answer, the sound of a whistle made them both look up to the screen, only to see Higo on the ground, again. His own team supporters were cheering. No card came up, and the game continued as if nothing had happened.

By the time Conan looked away from the screen, he was met with Haibara's back.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, confused.

"Didn't Tsuburaya-kun tell you?" she didn't even turn around. "I'm going to the restroom."

Nodding dumbly at her, the boy watched the girl continue to walk away. His eyes did not leave her form, that became smaller and smaller with each step she took, widening their distance little by little.

There was a weird, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something he couldn't describe, no matter how hard he tried.

Conan wondered what it was.

* * *

"Hey, sir," the three suspects and Megure turned around at the sound of the sweet, childish voice that came from behind. "How did you survive?"

Everyone blinked, until they realized who he was talking to. They all turned to Oba, who jumped, startled. "What do you mean, little boy?" he managed to get out through the surprise.

"You said you were sitting with other Noir supporters, right?"

"Yeah," Oba did not understand. "What about it?"

"It's because of your uniform!" the child exclaimed.

The man blinked, cluelessly, until the woman moved his hair so she could see. "This is...!" she gasped. "This uniform belongs to Higo, the player that betrayed Noir!" Oba went pale at the implications of that sentence. "You'd be dead if you wore this in the Noir stands!"

Oba did not speak, but Conan certainly did.

"Wait a second," he turned around to face Agasa, who flinched at the attention ─ or more like in anticipation of _what _was going to come next because of that attention. "Is that what you meant when you said he was definitely the killer?"

Everyone including ─ especially ─ Agasa gaped at that.

"But Agasa-san," the old man in question winced when the inspector turned to him. "That is circumstantial evidence. We need concrete evidence."

"A-Ah..."

"Don't worry," Conan grinned. "The Professor said it before. '_It should definitely be there', _shouldn't we check, then?" his smile momentarily shifted into an arrogant smirk, moving closer to the culprit, before he returned to his childish persona, reaching up to hold his hand, moving his arm in the process. "Ah, I see it! It _is _there!"

Takagi and Megure frowned to each other, moving closer to see the imprint on Oba's arm. Without a doubt, it was the same, unique design on the murder weapon. He had most likely crossed his arms, weapon on hand, so nobody could see it and he could take it out anytime.

Oba then admitted to the crime.

Apparently, his twin brother was a soccer fanatic killed by Akano. He had found out about the deal when surfing on the internet ─ there was a post about Akano pushing someone down the stairs and he hadn't found out it was his sibling until he had met with the hooligan, who had smirked and asked '_You're still alive?'_

And that uniform, that his brother used to wear to Noir games, had, ironically, been the reason he had been found out. He wondered if it had been a warning from his brother all along.

"If a supporter from Noir saw this uniform and told me, they could have stopped me from committing this horrible murder," he gave out a rueful smile, looking up into the sky. "If only someone said, '_What do you think you're doing?'... _I..."

As the man was taken away, Conan found himself staring at him with a clueless expression.

"_What do you think you're doing?" _those words still resounded inside his head. _What's with this? _he frowned. _This ominous feeling..._

"By the way," he heard Genta say. "Isn't Haibara slow?"

"Eh?" Conan, for some reason, didn't like this at all. "She hasn't come back yet?"

"No," Mitsuhiko shook his head.

"Ah, over there!" Ayumi exclaimed, pointing somewhere. "On the other platform!"

His gaze flickered towards the way she had pointed at. Haibara was there, right on the platform across the group, standing between the legs of the people that were awaiting the train that was about to arrive.

She wasn't looking back at them, however, just gazed blankly up in the sky, as if she was deep in thought, mind somewhere else that not even Conan could see.

Her eyes were sad, as the breeze gently moved her hair out of her face. Haibara didn't seem to care.

"_There is no place for a traitor," _her words echoed on his mind.

"_Because he can forget everything and run away to a place far away where people don't disapprove of him."_

Conan felt his own eyes widening at his own accord, not failing to remember that one time that Ran, long ago, had told him about the time his brother had disappeared. She had said that she had just stood there, watching him running further and further away from her with a bright, reassuring smile on his face.

A bad feeling on the pit of her stomach had settled in, and hadn't been able to shake it off no matter how hard she had tried.

"_A feeling?" seven year-old Conan blinked, confusedly. "What do you mean?"_

"_I just had it," she shrugged, a sad smile crossing her face. "I just knew that something was wrong. Very, very wrong."_

Not taking his gaze off her, he unconsciously took a step forward. He didn't speak a word as he saw her, ever so slowly, turn her head towards his way, finally noticing the group there.

"_It was as if..."_

Before their eyes could meet, a train passed by, blocking his sight.

"_... As if I would never, ever see Shinichi again."_

And one, single through crossed his mind:

_What do you think you're doing?!_

His legs began to move on his own accord. He ignored his friends' surprised gasps as they watched him suddenly running away for no apparent rhyme and reason. He paid no mind to the people moving out of his way, not wanting to get run over by the young child. He didn't even notice some of them actually yelling at him to be more careful, after almost bumping on them.

Conan just ran up the stairs, two at the time, and didn't even stop upon reaching the top. He wasted no time and ran along the long hallway, before descending down another set.

The train had stopped in the platform, which prompted the boy to run even faster.

"Haibara-san!" he screamed, at the top of his lungs. "Haibara-san!"

All passengers had boarded and the train was now on its way. Mentally cursing himself for being so slow, he ran along the moving vehicle, as if he was fast enough to catch up with it.

But then, the boy tripped on his own feet. Groaning, loudly, he propped his body up, watching as the train became smaller and smaller, far from his grasp.

Gasping for air, the boy pushed himself back on his feet.

But it was too late now, since the train was nothing at a little dot in the distance, gradually shrinking in front of his eyes until it finally disappeared, just like that.

Blue eyes just watched the horizon, a blank stare fixed on the spot where the vehicle had just been a few moments before, as if wondering why it wasn't there.

It took a painfully long moment for Conan to realize the fact that the train was now long gone.

And so was that enigmatic girl. The one that went by the name of Haibara Ai.

The same insufferable young scientist that had came into his life so suddenly and teased him on a daily basis. The same he hadn't trusted at first, but had gradually grown on him until she was one of his dear friends, to whom he would confide his own life without a second thought.

The same little girl that was simply terrified, probably scarred from her old life, but was beginning to smile again. Who was learning how to be a kid, just like he had a few months before her.

Haibara Ai had been at his side for so long. Yet, he hadn't realized it until now.

_She didn't..._

Then, just like that, she left. As suddenly as she had arrived and without even saying goodbye.

His eyes closed shut.

"AI!" and the name teared away from his throat before he could help it.

"What do you want?"

Blue orbs opened far from their maximum capacity when he heard _that _voice.

Even the irritation tainting the words was unmistakable. He could even imagine those sharp, cold ─ yet, somehow, _warm ─ _eyes staring into his soul, raising an eyebrow as if wondering what wrong she had done in another life to be cursed by his presence ─ besides working for a illegal crime syndicate and creating a highly poisonous drug, anyway.

Turning around, their eyes finally met. As predicted, she was wearing _that _same exact expression.

"You're too loud," she stated, unblinking. "Did you think I ran away?"

"Uh..." he struggled to find his own voice. "No..."

Conan managed a weak, unconvincing chuckle, as Haibara simply turned around to face a supervisor who, in turn, handed her a radio. The boy simply blinked twice, while she placed the radio safely on her jacket, until he put two and two together. _That's Mitsuhiko's radio... Was she looking for it?_

His shoulders dropped, feeling utterly stupid but not bringing himself to care.

"You told me," Haibara wasn't even looking at him. "Not to run away. Not to run away from fate."

He did not answer, just looked back at her, waiting for her to finally make her point across.

She turned to him. He didn't expect what followed next.

"You will protect me, won't you?"

Conan honestly didn't understand where was all that coming from, but still managed an answer.

"... Y-Yeah," he barely whispered through the shock.

Haibara's expression remained there, unwavering, her eyes still fixed on his. A small smirk broke through, however, as she turned away.

"Well," she said. "I'm not a weak little princess who will ask for help."

"No," Conan's surprised expression gradually vanished. "You definitely are not."

The strawberry blonde simply stared at him, as if trying to see what lied behind his blue eyes and soft, barely noticeable, frown.

"As if someone like you would be a princess," then, a teasing smirk adorned the boy's face.

"Ah, that is true. I'm a _queen._"

"An _ice _queen, that is."

Haibara shook her head, before starting to walk away, probably towards the platform where the rest of their friends, plus the old professor, were probably waiting. Conan simply crossed his arms behind his head, catching up with her in no time.

"Did you know?" he casually said. "Higo-san made a V-goal," before smiling at her surprise. "The whole stadium suddenly cheered for him. Apparently, the booing was to motivate him."

"So why are you telling me all those stupid things?" she asked, almost defensively. "Don't lump me with a soccer freak like you."

"Ah, is that so?" Conan shrugged, his grin wide enough for her to tell that he had seen right through her lie.

Huffing irritably, she looked away.

"Forgive me for misunderstanding things," the boy continued. "It is kind of weird, though, considering your behavior throughout the day."

"Speaking of 'weird behaviour'," Conan decided he did _not _like the smirk on her face. "I found it incredibly unusual from you."

"What, exactly?"

"I was wondering what in the world possessed you to scream my name, my _first _name, across the platform like a mad man."

What followed next that a mess of sputtering nonsense, his face completely coloured in a lovely shade of red as he struggled to come up with a excuse. Haibara couldn't help but giggle at it.

"I'm just joking," she then sighed. "Rest assured, Kudo-kun. I didn't hear anything over the sound of the trains."

"A-Ah, I see."

_She most definitely heard it._

"A-Anyway, Haibara-san, we should get going. Everyone is waiting."

Before she could even reply, the boy started to run, hoping that the previous topic would _not _come back again.

Smiling a bit, she followed.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I didn't forget, so to say, but I figured it could go implicit that they both acepted Ai at the end, since I felt, at that time, that it wasn't going to provide something new to the story. And for the other thing you mentioned, I will see what I can do :)


	43. Contact with the Black Organization

**File Forty-Three: Contact with the Black Organization**

Game system engineer, Itakura Suguru's murder case had been quite the stressful one.

The reasons of this difficulty, however, did _not _come from the crime itself, but rather the disk, labeled as 'diary', where the victim had ─ hopefully ─ stored some clues concerning the mysterious Black Organization. Someone had seen a man that definitely fit with the description of Tequila walking out his room, after all.

"_You don't know a thing about computers, Inspector-san!"_ the child had teased, then pretended to prove this by giving him some instructions like '_stand up the computer' _or '_transferring some data from the disk into the computer', _which he barely managed to do with the help of Takagi ─ even though he was huffing in annoyance the whole time ─ until realization hit Kogoro.

Just like Megure wasn't familiar with computer terms, the culprit probably didn't know a thing about Igo, making it impossible to know that the position of the beads in the board was wrong, and that it contained a secret dying message in braille.

While everyone was distracted, Conan had taken the opportunity to go to the computer and copy all the data into an empty disk.

"_What are you doing, Conan-kun?" _the child had jumped, clearly started, definitely not expecting to hear Ran's voice.

"_R-Ran-neechan," _his voice had sounded an octave higher than intended. "_Inspector Megure left the computer on so I thought..." _

Ignoring the raised eyebrow, that let the young boy know that Ran didn't buy his excuse, he had turned off the computer and stepped out, with a sheepish grin on his face, and the copied disk on his pocket.

And it remained there, as he walked back home with Ran, his right hand clutching it tightly, not wanting to let go of this lead for anything in this world. The girl was holding his other hand against his wishes ─ because he might be eight, but he was old enough to walk on his own, _thank you very much. _

"... I wonder if people change."

The barely audible voice ran through his ears at the same time as the grip on his left hand tightened, slightly. Feeling a bit confused about it, he looked up at Ran.

Confusion turned into concern when he noticed the tears collecting on her eyes.

And then, he understood where that thought had come from.

The criminal, Soma Ryusuke, had ended up confessing. Apparently, twenty years ago, the two of them dreamed of building the best Shoji program to be ever created, yet Itakura had never made any development through the years despite all the money Soma had invested.

"_Well, we shouldn't have waited twenty years," _he had said, before being taken away by the police. "_Both hearts and dreams grow apart if they are separated."_

"Ran-neechan..." despite the lump on his throat, Conan managed.

Her head snapped towards his spot, blinking a few times. It seemed as if she hadn't even realized she had said such a thing.

It all went away when she forced a smile. "Sorry, Conan-kun," she said to him. "It was nothing."

His piercing gaze never left her face, even as she tried to convince him otherwise. "It must be hard," then, he said, a bit of guilt tinting his voice. "To keep waiting for Shinichi-niichan."

_All this time... All this time, without realizing, I have kept pressuring Ran-neechan to wait for him... Even if..._

For the longest time, she did not say anything, just looked back at him with sad eyes until she sighed. Conan simply watched as she kneeled down right next to him before placing her hands on top of her shoulders.

"Listen, Conan-kun," she began, slowly. With a kindness and such an amount of patience that could only be _hers. _"I have already told Shinichi this. The only reason I'm still waiting for him is because I have decided to do it. It was my decision and mine alone."

The gentle smile curved her lips upwards once more.

"I know you mean well, and I have absolutely no doubts that you're trying to help, but..." she continued, struggling a bit to put her thoughts into words. "Just remember this. If there's a problem between Shinichi and me, it stays between us two. There's no need for you to be involved in all these stupid dramas, okay?"

The boy frowned slightly, but ultimately nodded his head, understanding her request. At that, the girl directed him a pleased smile, before standing up again to continue their way.

At least until someone stepped out the phone boot a few feet ahead.

Conan felt his blood freezing on his veins when his eyes met with Akai Shuichi.

"You're crying again?" asked Akai, giving Ran a blank look. "You're always crying."

"Is it wrong?" Ran didn't seem to be pleased, as she stubbornly wiped her unshed tears.

Her fiery gaze didn't disappear, holding Akai's with such an ease that seemed to amuse him. "No, it just occurred to me," he finally replied. "You remind me of a woman. One that always cries in the dark trying to appear normal... A foolish woman."

Understandably so, Ran did not like that comment. She glared at him, speechless as he started to walk, passing by them without giving her another glance.

"Wait," the young, serious voice caused Ran to look down at the child.

There was a serious look on Conan's face, eyes fixed on the man, watching him stop on his tracks and, ever so slowly, slightly turning his head to look back. Akai's expression hadn't changed, even when it focused on the kid.

"What is a FBI agent doing in Japan?" he asked him, a frown deeply carved on his features. "You need permission of the government to do that, don't you?"

Conan said nothing else, as Akai seemed to examine him with his eyes for a moment, that narrowing for some reason. "I'm just visiting," he answered with a faint smirk. "Do I need permission for that?"

"... No. No, you don't."

Giving him another last glance, Akai continued his way. The child's eyes did not leave the FBI agent's back as it became smaller and smaller in the distance. They did break away, however, when Ran's hand latched on his own.

"I guess it's enough for today, Detective-san," she said, with a slight smile. "Let's go home."

"Y-Yeah."

As he allowed himself to be taken away, Conan's mind did not stop wondering about it. _Is that guy really with the FBI? Haibara-san seemed to react to his presence during James-san's kidnapping case..._

Conan groaned mentally. He still had trouble digesting something so illogical as '_reacting to a presence', _but he knew Haibara. That girl would _never _joke when it was related to _them._

_Akai Shuichi... Member of the FBI? Member of the Organization? Which one is it?_

_... He couldn't have infiltrated the FBI, could he?_

Since he lacked of information and wondering about it any longer was going to get him nowhere, he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.

At this moment, he had other stuff to worry about.

* * *

"Oh, Conan, perfect timing!" said the professor as soon as he stepped inside his house. "I've invented a new gadget for you. Also, I have a pair of extra glasses so you-"

"Thanks," the child seemed to be in a hurry as he moved to the center of the living room, looking around for some reason. "Where is Haibara-san?"

"Ai-kun is in the shower," Agasa answer, a bit confused as to why he was asking that in the first place.

"I see," he smirked. "That's great news."

"Great news...? Wait, Conan, don't tell me you...?!"

Blinking confusedly at the angered reaction of the old professor, Conan felt his smirk dropping. "I... what?"

"... Nevermind," the professor waved it off. "Forget about it."

With a forced laugh, Agasa walked away, leaving Conan behind, who gave him a last questioning look before following, shrugging as he did that.

Once he got to the computer, Conan told Agasa everything that he had found out, as he put the disk in. Both of them looked through the diary, not finding anything out of the ordinary, besides what he already knew. That Itakura had met with a giant speaking Kansai dialect and that he hoped to never see him ever again.

Then, he realized they were some strange white spaces in between the entries, so he highlighted them. More information was revealed to them.

Apparently someone had been sneaking into Itakura's office after he met with Tequila, and then broken into his house. He had grown afraid and, eventually, left a message in his desk, stating that he agreed to their demands, then received an answer: the word '_OK' _written in a deep red ink and a number. He _knew _what that colour implied.

He had decided to call a few days after that. A woman had answered and demanded to finish a computer program he had abandoned. He had exactly one year to do it.

But then he had written that he _couldn't _complete the program. He was scared to do so. For humanity, that was. Because of that, he had decided to run, leaving the incomplete program behind and check near the computer at his cottage. They would send a mail at midnight, five days since then to organize when to meet.

_Which means it will arrive tonight in three hours._

There was one last entry, though, that made his blood freeze.

"_February 15th:_

_I wonder what they were going to do with this program. I can't stop thinking about the strange thing that the woman said over the phone._

_Right. When I was finally tired of her queen-like mentality, I asked her who the hell she thought she was, to which she only replied in English:_

_We can be both God and the Devil._

_Since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time."_

"What in the world-?!" Conan exclaimed right after reading that outloud, completely astonished, and equally horrified.

"What is that? Are you reading some fantasy story about a wizard?"

The young female voice caused both males to unintentionally wince and to spin around, shocked to see the little scientist standing right behind them, her eyebrow raised far above her hairline.

"T-That's right," Agasa laughed awkwardly. "I've gotten hooked on a foreign story, right, Conan?"

"Y-Yeah."

"And why is Kudo-kun here?"

"He's here for my new invention," the professor bend down and picked something from a box. "Right, Conan?"

"Y-Yeah."

Next thing the young boy knew, he was blinking at the belt that the old professor had put around his waist. He watched, with a very blank look as he turned a dial and pressed a button, causing a soccer ball to pop out, bounce a few times on the ground before deflating.

"With this you don't have to worry to find anything nearby to kick! Isn't it terribly useful, Conan?"

"..."

"Conan?" he repeated, with a more stern tone.

"Y-Yeah. Truly amazing."

"This is stupid," Haibara rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed."

Once she was gone, the two of them let out a long sigh of relief.

* * *

His plan was supposed to be a simple one, even if a bit dangerous at the same time. Agasa would drive him to Itakura's cottage where they would intercept the email the Organization were going to send him. With that they would be able to trace them and done. Everything would be perfect.

But of course. _Of course _they had thought ahead. It turned out to be programmed to require a password. Predictably so, none of them had no idea of what it could be, so the mail got deleted after five seconds.

And the phone rang. Both of them had a pretty good idea of _who _it could be.

"This is bad," Agasa commented, before fixing his gaze to the heavy storm outside the cottage. "If they are watching, we have no other choice but to go out into the blizzard through the backdoor, despite the danger..."

"No thanks. Don't want to catch a cold."

"Eh?" then his blood froze when he spotted the child walking towards the phone. "Wait, Conan, what are you-?!"

Before he could even finish that sentence, the young boy was picking it up, bowtie over his mouth to mimic Itakura's voice. "Yes?"

"Yo, what's up?" Conan recognized the voice that greeted him. "Heard you failed to open the email."

_Vodka._

"Ah, sorry. I guess the lines got disconnected due to the storm. The power went out before I could check my mail."

Conan felt, for the first time in a while, extremely lucky that Vodka was the one behind the phone and not Gin, who was notoriously smarter and would have most likely seen right through his lies.

Had it been the silver haired one, Conan wouldn't have manipulated the conversation to rearrange the meeting for that day at four in the morning, either. It wouldn't be good, after all, if the Organization caught wind of Itakura's death in the news.

They got back into the Beetle as soon as possible, hoping to make it to Tokyo in four hours so they could trick them with the help of the police. As Agasa drove, Conan took the professor's laptop and tried the disk with the incomplete program.

It was password-locked, however. "We have nothing to tell the police now," the child groaned, desperately typing random words, hoping that it would, somehow, work out.

"But don't those guys always carry guns?" Agasa tried. "If we report to the police that they're selling illegal weapons, they'll come."

The child paused at that, turning to look at the professor's way and noticed, for the first time today, how terrified he was at the prospect. Hands clenching against the wheel, eyebrows brought together and a colourless face were proof of that.

So Conan frowned slightly. "You're right."

By the corner of his eyes, the child noticed how some tension disappeared in Agasa's shoulders as he pressed the phone against his ear. "Hello? This is Kudo," Shinichi's voice then filled Agasa's ears, as the child spoke close to his bowtie.

Little did the old professor know that he really wasn't calling anyone.

Because the child knew that, if he did, it would be just like killing those few officers that would be sent. Not even the police was aware of how dangerous this secret organization could be.

_It will be okay, _he thought, staring outside the window to the purely white scenery outside. _I will live._

_So I can bring all of them down for once and for all._

_Only then Onii-chan, Haibara-san, everyone..._

He was brought out of his thoughts when the car suddenly started shaking and came into a stop. It wasn't long until they realized they had a flat tire. _Just my luck._

"We'll have to ask a gas station nearby to bring us a spare," Agasa huffed.

"But that will take forever!" Conan loudly complained. "Especially at this hour."

"Well, we can just wait in the car," with a shrug, he opened the back door. "Why don't you get some sleep in the meantime? It's pretty late."

"There's no time for that!"

Agasa paused, blinking confusedly at the boy that seemed to be in a hurry, for some reason he could not hope to understand. Realizing his mistake, Conan flinched, before forcing a smile, visually calmer than before.

"I-I mean, Ran-neechan would definitely be _very _angry if I arrive even later than it is."

"Eh? Weren't you supposed to stay the night at my house?"

"I don't have any desire to stay in the same house as that evil-eyed yawny girl."

"Come on, Conan. Don't be so unreasonable-"

"Ah, look! A car!"

Without waiting for a reply, Conan started to wave his hands to get the car to stop. Agasa sighed, tiredly, as he watched the kid cutely asking for a ride.

On the bright side, they got their trip to Tokyo.

On the other, they had just gotten inside a stolen car from a group of jewel robbers that were on the run.

* * *

Not even in his wildest dreams had Conan believed that the day he would be saved by a balloon would come, but there he was, hopping off the car where one of the criminals had been knocked out by one of his darts, and the other was pressed against the car window because of said balloon. _I guess this invention proved to be more useful that what it looked like, huh?_

"Well, I'm leaving now," the kid smiled at the old professor. "Call the police and tell them you caught the jewel robbers they're looking for, okay?"

"Hey, hey, where are you going?"

"Home," he replied, easily. "There is a train station nearby, so I might as well ride one."

"Wait a second, Conan-"

"Later!"

The professor only watched, with a worried expression, as the child began to run away from him, disappearing around the corner the next second, and sighed tiredly. _Well, taking a train this late definitely not the most dangerous thing this kid has done, but..._

He frowned.

_Please be safe, Conan._

Not even Agasa knew if he was talking about his trip home anymore.

As soon as he got away from Agasa's sight, Conan's smile disappearing, adopting a more serious expression. _If I told him I'm going to do this, he wouldn't let me go, _he thought, pulling his hoodie over his head. _I can't keep getting people involved._

Like so, he ran down the stairs, as quickly as he could. Once in place, he put his plan in motion.

At exactly 04:00 PM, Vodka arrived at the place they had accorded to meet. His flashlight illuminated the entire locker room, but there was no sign of life in there. He figured he had freaked out at the last minute, not that it was surprising.

So, he took his time to lit up a cigarette, unaware of the small boy watching him from a distance away, hiding from plain sight.

Then he noticed a check poking out from the locker he had told Itakura to met in. Opening it, he couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a CD case, covered in tape for some reason. "Such a fool," he said to himself as he started to peel it off.

Conan smirked when he let his cigarette fall into the ground.

_Click._

His smirk was wiped out at the sight of the gun placed in the back of Vodka's head. _Gin, _he recognized him instantly, then frowned slightly when the silver haired man picked up the cigarette, placed it back on his partner's mouth and told him that the tape was, most likely, to get his fingerprints.

He cursed in his mind when Gin showed Vodka the tracking device stuck in the CD case.

"This is a clever fox," Gin smirked.

"Itakura, that bastard..." Vodka was angry.

"No, it wasn't Itakura," he dropped the tracker into the floor and smashed it into pieces with his foot. "Extreme climate condition place stress on the heart. Someone with heart issues would never go somewhere like that during a snowstorm."

_Damn it, everything was going so well... Why did it have to be Gin...?_

"This case... It's been wiped down, but it's still emitting heat," Conan's hair stood into an end.

_This can't be good._

"That means..."

"Yeah, he must be hiding nearby."

_Definitely not good._

The sound of gun's safety unlocking made his blood to freeze and the steps slowly coming closer and closer caused his heart to start pounding heavily against his small ribcage.

His head spun around, frantically looking for a way out. To his dismay, the exit was far too away from his current position to be accessible at the moment, so that was _not _an option.

The two men in black were getting closer and closer.

Then, his eyes fell on the locker behind him and instantly started to move. By the time he had gotten inside, he heard those same steps right in front of him, evidently confused about the fact that they were, apparently, all alone.

By now, Conan was sweating profusely.

"What do we do know?" he heard Vodka say.

_Calm down, _Conan tried to keep his breathing even, despite the panic he was going through, painfully aware of how loudly it was sounding in his own ears. He could only hope that none of them could hear him from outside. _You're okay. You will be fine._

But Gin was deadly silent. That, above all, scared him the most.

His heavy breathing suddenly came into a stop, air freezing on his lungs, when he heard what came next. The sounds of lockers bursting open, one after another, in a frenzy. But there was nothing the child could do, but to pray in the darkness for a miracle.

When light filtered through, Conan honestly thought everything was all over.

But Gin froze, right before he could completely open the locker he was in. "What am I doing?" he shook his head. "An adult couldn't fit in here."

The door slowly closed shut, and Conan didn't even think about moving from his spot.

"Well then, let's disguise and leave. The police could be on their way," Gin told his partner, as they got far and far away. "We should always be on guard, because there's someone investigating us. A fox as clever as a detective."

Gin's voice caused a chill to run down his spine, terror washing over him like a cold breeze, and realized it. If this person was _this _terrifying to the point to cause the little boy to genuinely want to run away at the sound of his voice, he _really _didn't want to know how hard it must have been for Haibara to be actively taught all those terrifying things by him.

The girl was afraid of this guy, understandably so.

Now it was quiet, awfully quiet, causing the boy to wonder if they were truly gone. His breathing was becoming more ragged as time passed by, which he attributed to the panic, and he really, _really _didn't want to move.

Like so, all alone in darkness, the boy hugged his knees in front of his chest. _I want to go home, _the childish thought invaded his mind before he could help himself and, with a shaky breath, he closed his eyes, face pressing against his legs. Behind his eyelids, he could see his friends, Haibara, Ran's radiant smile as she welcomed him home...

And of course, his brother was also there. Grinning at him so brightly that it could have lighted up all darkness in the world.

But it was still dark. Dark, cold and cramped.

_And Conan could hear them. Voices speaking with each other that, for some reason, he thought he needed to listen to. So he just stayed there, completely still and silent, taking into every bit of the conversation, hoping, praying that nobody would know he was there, inside that small bag that man was carrying._

_They would kill him if they knew he was there._

_But... he needed to know. He had to know more._

_So, ever so slowly, his little finger went to the zipper and gingerly poked a single hole open._

_Light momentarily blinded him, causing his eyes to close shut tightly because of the pain..._

And Haibara's face came into view.

To which, once he became used to his overly bright environment, Conan blinked as if he was stupid, feeling completely disoriented and confused about the fact that it was _that _bright at four in the morning.

"Haibara-san," he managed, however. "What are you doing here?"

"That's what I should be asking you," she looked as confused as him. "What are _you _doing inside a locker, of all things?"

"... How did you...?" he ignored her question.

She simply stepped away so he could crawl outside. "When the Professor hadn't come home by morning I used the spare glasses to find you."

"M-Morning?!"

"Yeah, morning."

It took a moment more than necessary for the young boy to realize what had happened. In such a small, cramped place, there was no wonder he passed out from lack of oxygen, especially considering he might have taken more than needed due to the frightening situation he had barely gotten out of.

"Little girl, did you find your friend?" a worker asked her.

"Yes," at the cherry, overly sweet voice she had never, _ever _used before, Conan couldn't help but wonder if he was still passed out in that locker and hallucinating, or something.

But he kept those thoughts to himself. The boy simply gave the adult a shaky nod when they were told to go back home, before following the scientist outside.

"So?" her voice had dropped to her mature, stern one. "What were you doing in there?"

"... Napping?" it came out as a question.

She gave him _that _look, causing Conan to quickly realize she was not buying it. So, he waved it off with a nervous laugh, and started to walk, only for her to follow suit, even if her sharp gaze had yet to disappear.

As he started to explain however that the professor was with the police, he noticed Haibara stopping on her tracks, head whipping around to look over her shoulder.

Her pale expression did not take long to show itself.

"Hey, what's wrong?" so, the boy asked.

"Ah, no. It's nothing."

"Haibara-san, do you seriously believe it's nothing when you're wearing _that _expression?"

"Says the one who claims that took a nap in a locker."

Conan opened his mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. Sighing tiredly, he continued his way home.

After everything he had gone through, he couldn't wait to get there.

"Anyway, let's hurry up," Haibara shrugged, finally giving up in the previous discussion. "You still have to pick up your backpack at your house."

"Huh?"

"We have school, remember?"

A loud groan ripped away from the young boy's throat before he could help himself.

* * *

A/N:

Dy: Thank you for pointing out those several mistakes! I've fixed them, so it should be okay now, I hope XD

Gamergail: It had absolutely nothing to do with that chapter in particular, but it's actually that relates to the story, in the future, even if it sounds terribly stupid by now, lol!

ajjr12: I think this chapter right here covers until around chapter 383 of the manga, and I've just finished writing chapter 417. Keep in mind, however, that I don't exactly follow the correct order all the time and I might go back and forth in any time. As for movie five, there's a big chance that, yes, I'm eventually going to do it, but I'm not making any promises XD


	44. Blue Sky, Blue Sea, Blue Wonder

**File Forty-Four: Blue Sky, Blue Sea, Blue Wonder**

"_Thank you._

─ _Class 1-A, Mouri Ran."_

Mouri Ran just looked back that the note right in front of her eyes, blinking confusedly a few times before moving to look at the boy that stood right behind. He wasn't looking at her, and seemed to be rather annoyed for some reason.

"Kobayashi-sensei gave me extra homework."

Even though he was pretty sure that the teacher was just interested in that mystery note they had found inside a wallet at the library.

"Why did she give _you _extra homework?" her expression went a bit more stern.

"No reason."

"Conan-kun..."

"... I kind of fell asleep in class?"

"Conan-kun!"

The loudness of her voice caused the little boy to wince, letting his head drop as he simply listened through Ran's angry rant. _What do you expect? I stayed up last night until four in the morning then passed out in a locker, _he thought, but couldn't really say out loud.

Unless he wanted to risk a year-long grounding and several questions he knew he couldn't answer without extending _that _grounding to a lifetime.

"Kobayashi-sensei said she would overlook it," as soon as he saw an opening in Ran's one-sided conversation, Conan butted in. "If I managed to find out what was that thing doing there."

"... Kobayashi-sensei is a bit weird sometimes, isn't she?"

"Maybe you should look for a stronger word."

"Well, I guess I could tell you about that," she shrugged. "It's just a silly case Shinichi and I got involved with when we were about your age."

Now, Conan was curious. He said nothing, just watching as the girl seemed to remember, unaware of the fact that her lips were curving at the memory or the wistful look on her eyes, that then vanished with a shocked gasp. "Ah, I forgot!" she suddenly stood up. "I'm going with Sonoko to the movies tonight!"

"There's still time until then, isn't it? It's only three in the afternoon," Kogoro grumbled, from his spot behind a newspaper. "I don't get why you're in such a hurry."

"I have so many things to do, and I completely forgot to make dinner for you two!" she explained, rushedly. "So the only thing you need to do is heat it."

"Don't worry, Ran-neechan," Conan assured. "I can cook for both of us myself."

"Thank you, Conan-kun!" she beamed. "You're always so dependable..." a glare was sent to Kogoro's direction, but he didn't seem to notice. "Unlike some people."

"Actually," the adult in the room completely ignored that last comment. "Cook just for yourself, brat. I'm going out today."

Quite honestly, Conan wasn't that surprised about it, so he just shrugged, feeling actually a bit glad that he was going to have the house for himself, in silence and peace.

It had been a tiring day, after all.

But Ran didn't seem to be okay with that, however.

"Dad! Don't tell me you're going to play mahjong again!"

"Ah, no. Not today," Kogoro's face went more serious with those words. "There's some stuff I want to do."

While the teenage girl loudly opposed her father, clearly not wanting to let that go, the elementary student simply watched the older detective, curious eyes not failing to notice that there was an expression on his face that he rarely had ─ he wasn't cowering in fear at his daughter's anger, his eyes looked... rather solemn, actually.

It kind of made Conan want to know what he was thinking about.

_Look at him. Occhan is actually thinking... What a shocker._

"I guess there's no helping it," finally, Ran gave up. "That's decided, then. You're coming with us, Conan-kun."

"... Eh?"

"I'm not comfortable with the idea of leaving you here all alone at night, and I can't just cancel," she offered him an apologetic smile. "Besides, I don't think Sonoko would mind-"

"She will," his voice was plain. "And _I _will, too."

Ran huffed tiredly, having already expected such a response from that boy, and imagining a similar reaction coming from her best friend when she showed up with Conan at the cinema.

"You're still coming along, Conan-kun. That's final."

It was Conan's turn to huff, as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, not quite realizing he was looking just like a petulant child right now ─ which amused Ran to no end but didn't let it show, doing her best to keep her stern posture in. He didn't talk for a few seconds, just looking anywhere but her face, and she could tell he was probably resigning himself.

"... Please don't tell me it's another of those American romance movies..."

"Perhaps you can think of it as a punishment for sleeping in class."

Now, it was official. Conan genuinely wanted to cry.

* * *

On the bright side, Conan got to hear all about his brother's adventure with Ran when they were younger. As the two walked to the cinema Sonoko was waiting at, the girl retold the entire story, slightly frowning in confusion when telling him that the criminal had introduced himself as Shinichi's 'younger brother' ─ whatever that meant ─ then eyes twinkling as she told the little boy about the different places they visited, or even giggled upon remembering that Shinichi had read some kanji wrong, despite being _so _certain that he was doing it right.

The story ended very beautifully, with the two children gazing at the sunset and calling each other by they first names.

"That's probably a much better love story than the one I'm going to witness in a few hours..." he commented, under his breath.

"Conan-kun, you know it's not like that!"

He just gave the girl a _long _look, that only managed to get Ran to blush even more.

From that point on, everything else seemed to go smoothly, even if a bit dull for the young boy. They met Sonoko ─ who, naturally wasn't pleased at all for the youngester's appearance, and to be fair so was he ─ and headed to the movie theater, where he was forced to sit through three entire hours full of accidental kisses, hugs and promises for eternal love that most girls seemed to enjoy a lot.

He might have nodded off a few times, he wasn't sure.

_At least, nobody got murdered today, _Conan shrugged as they walked out the cinema, partly grateful for the unusually normal day.

Normalcy wasn't a luxury Conan could afford, however. Proof was what happened then.

As they were walking back home at some hour in the night, a random bulgar bumped into Sonoko and ran off with her bag. Of course Ran took of running after him with a look that promised a world of pain for the poor, poor criminal, followed by Conan and Sonoko.

It wasn't her who stopped the robber. It was a dog.

Yes, a dog ─ the owner had called him Lupin ─ had just jumped out of the sidecar of a moving motorcycle and attacked the criminal. The child and Ran simply stared at the old man that stepped out of his vehicle, wearing a smug grin on his face, before restraining the bulgar against the floor.

To their surprise, Sonoko seemed to recognize him. "Jirokichi-ojisama!"

"Oh, aren't you Shiro's daughter?" Jirokichi smiled at her. "I haven't seen Shiro-san in a while!"

Apparently, the old man was Suzuki Jirokichi, Sonoko's paternal uncle, as well as an advisor to Suzuki Corporation, who was supposed to be on a trip around the world. He told them that he had found the thing he was searching the world for. The perfect bait, he had called it.

Once they were on his mansion, they saw it. Among the several pictures, trophies and other figures that were probably worth more than Conan's head, there was a golden sculpture.

The child observed it looked like a woman holding a beautiful blue gem on her hand which, according to the legend, was made from mermaid tears.

"The name it has been given is Blue Wonder."

_Blue Wonder... _Conan couldn't really look away, and apparently the other two girls could either. _Just perfect for a lousy thief like him... Wait a second, is this...?_

"This is the bait for attracting that guy," as if he was reading his mind, the old man spoke. "After living here for 72 years, nothing has escaped me. Yes, I have captured everything in the world that I've wanted. That guy is the only one I can't capture."

_Hey, hey... Don't tell me that guy is the guy I'm thinking of..._

"No matter the strength of the safe or the amount of guards, he can steal it from the sky dressed even in white..."

_Oh, goodness. He is._

"His name is Kaito KID!"

_Predictable._

Rolling his eyes and feeling what was left of his good mood seeping away at the mention of _that _name, Conan simply turned around and absentmindedly strolled around, absently taking on all those other treasures while ignoring the squeals of excitement coming from Sonoko's lips at the mention of her moonlight idol.

_Wherever he's involved, trouble is sure to come, _he rolled his eyes. _And, unlike me, he purposely does his best to make everyone's life as difficult as possible._

Half opened eyelids glanced over his shoulder, where Jirokichi was still talking with the other two girls and sighed,completely exhausted. _As if he's going to fall into such an obvious trap._

His surprise had been big however when the thief in white accepted the challenge the old man had posted on the newspaper. Ran, on the other hand, wasn't that shocked, considering that Sonoko had told her already and forwarded her the magician's message, which Kogoro read out loud:

"_It's my pleasure to accept your challenge._

_I'll appear at 8:00 PM on February 25th._

_Expect my first appearance the eve just before._

─ _Kaito KID."_

"He's as annoying as ever," Kogoro commented.

"... I can't believe that I'm agreeing with Occhan," huffed Conan, under his breath.

"What was that?!"

"... I said that there's a P.S. at the end," the lie rolled easily off his tongue.

To be fair, there actually _was _something else under KID's ever-irritating doodle of himself.

"_P.S: Just like Blue Wonder's name, I'll walk in from the sky..."_

Conan's eyes widened, slightly, as he read the message by himself to realize that, yes, Kogoro had just read it right. He was going to _walk _there.

_What..._

* * *

"_I hope you come to one of my heists one day, Tantei-kun," _he had written a few months previous from this moment.

To the genius elementary school student, the thief was no more than an nuisance. An arrogant criminal that was probably bored sick so decided to start this routine. Waltzing inside wherever the heist would take place in and disappear with the jewel on his hand.

The worst of all was that the stolen gem would reappear somewhere. He couldn't even be like any other thief and sell it in the black market or something. No. He _had _to return it, humiliating everyone even further. As if it was a _game _to him.

Justice itself seemed to be a mere joke to him.

At the end, he was nothing but a criminal who used different tricks in order to deceive people, and Conan thought he ought to be used with that kind of mindset already.

But he was so, _so _exasperating...

_He hasn't even arrived and I'm already getting a headache, _he groaned, holding Ran's hand as he helped him pass through the crowd of fans awaiting the arrival of their favourite magician. _Why am I here, even?_

Ah, right. Ran insisted to have her father come and help out. Conan was dragged along because of that.

At least, he didn't have to pass through the painful check all other people had to go through. KID couldn't really disguise himself as a little child without shrinking somehow, after all.

While Sonoko introduced Kogoro to Jirokichi, Conan simply looked around, a bored expression etched on his face. As Inspector Nakamori had loudly complained a few minutes ago, several helicopters were roaming around, which should be good _if _they belonged to the police. They were brought by Jirokichi, though, so he could film KID's defeat for his autobiographical movie. Conan had to roll his eyes at that.

The group was led then to the ban, where the screens showed everything that the helicopters and the security cameras of the museum filmed, and Conan was honestly glad that he was away from the constant fangirling screams that had been blasting on his ears again and again.

His eyes fell on one of the screens and blinked. There was a figure, small and almost unrecognizable because of the distance, passing right in front of the full moon.

"He's here," came the flat, young voice.

The camera zoomed in and they saw his face. Sonoko beamed at the sight of KID's unmistakable grin.

_Isn't that cheating? _Conan thought, unamused. _He said he would be walking, yet he's soaring through the sky in his paraglider as if he was ET... Only more showy and annoying._

_... What is he trying to pull off?_

He wouldn't admit, not even to himself, but he was feeling slightly curious about it now.

That might have been the reason he followed Nakamori out the trailer, who had rushed off when told that the thief was currently behind the museum. He eventually stopped running, standing in the middle of the crowd, eyes peeled and waiting for the magician to come out.

And he did. With a poof of smoke, hands inside his pockets and an arrogant smirk on his face ─ now, Conan couldn't _actually _see his face, but he was pretty confident that it was there.

Conan could only stare, shocked. The thief seemed to be standing in the air, unfazed by the helicopter that floated right above him, and around.

_Don't be fooled by this cheap trick, _he scolded himself. _His body is just hung by wires attached to each building._

The inspector seemed to jump into the same conclusion, ordering the officer to check for wires in one of the buildings before going to the other himself. Just as he obeyed, Conan also did the same, rushing up the stairs, two at a time, until he reached the roof.

Both the officer and child were rendered speechless when they realized they _couldn't _see a wire.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" KID's voice resounded in the entire place, successfully causing the entire crowd to clap and squeal even louder than before. "Alright everyone. I hope you enjoy the miracle you're about to witness."

Even if he didn't realize it himself, Conan's eyes widened behind his glasses, unable to conceive the thought that _this _was actually happening.

KID was walking. Slowly strolling over the large multitude of fans that simply watched, astonished and amazed, as he moved. Silent with shock, hearing actual steps sounding while the magician _walked _in mid air, closer and closer to the Blue Wonder, that Jirokichi had put in the roof of the building.

Scowling lightly, the little boy descended down the stairs in a heartbeat and returned to the crowd, watching as a mechanism hid the Blue Wonder away from the thief, who simply stopped.

And grinned.

Bending down, Conan activated his shoes.

KID glanced back at the crowd, from over his shoulder, and, for a brief moment, Conan genuinely believed the magician was looking right at _him._

"The show for tonight has concluded," he then declared. "Let's do this once more, at 8:00 PM tomorrow, alright?"

With another poof of smoke, Kaito KID vanished into the thin air, leaving to the child to scold, irritation pumping through his blood even more.

But there was a part of him, a tiny little one, that was actually interested about that trick.

The gears started turning on his head, doing their best to figure that out.

* * *

Loads of things happened after the trick the magician had pulled out.

Not all of them were _that _interesting, such as finding out that Jirokichi used contacts ─ which would have been shattered beyond repair if Lupin hadn't stopped Kogoro from stepping on them. Or that the reason he wanted to catch the thief so badly was because he, despite his many, many accomplishments, had _never _made into the front page of the papers because KID would be the center of attention.

The day for the _real _heist came around and the crowd was as huge as ever, if not bigger. None of them had to go through any trouble to see KID amongst the multitude, because they got some special seats in the roof.

There it was. A table in the middle of the room with an umbrella on top and everything ─ including a butler to welcome them _and _offer them drinks. Sonoko, of course, didn't seem to be bothered about it.

Suddenly, Ran's hat was blown off by a strong breeze. "I'll get it for you," the boy declared, hopping off his seat. He received an apologetic look from the girl's part.

As he went to gather it, something caught his eye. Totally forgetting about the lost hat, he crouched next to the wall and noticed them. Two marks. Fresh.

Suddenly, everything began to make sense. He couldn't help it ─ his lips twitched upwards on their own.

"Conan-kun?" he blinked when he heard Ran's voice. "What about my hat?"

"Ah!" he instantly stood up. "Sorry, got distracted!"

Luckily for both of them, her hat had gotten struck on the grid. So, with a nervous laugh, he passed it back to the girl, who simply giggled as she accepted it, before settling back on his place. At this point, Kogoro was commenting something about the trick KID was using, wondering _how _he had done it.

"Really," Ran commented. "Through all of this, he never used a prop, huh?"

"He must have used one," Conan pipped in, with a smile on his face, then continued, as an afterthought. "If we humans could roam the skies so freely... the birds would be surprised, huh?"

He immediately regretted saying those words.

"Conan-kun, you talk so cute," Ran giggled again, while Sonoko and Kogoro gave him a questioningly look.

"I mean," he fought back a light blush, embarrassed by his childish comment. "They could be startled badly enough and trigger a fight or flight response, right? For his sake, I hope is the latter. I don't think getting pecked to death is a painless way to go."

"Conan-kun..." Ran tried to reason with him. If she didn't know any better, she would have said the child was hoping for the _other _option. At least, not to death, she believed ─ _hoped_.

"This is getting a bit dark," Kogoro scoffed.

"Ran," Sonoko gave her friend a pointed look. "That kid is _not _cute at all."

"Anyway," the child continued, completely unfazed by their opinion. "I found some marks. Maybe KID has something to do with them?"

It turned out the very same marks were present on the other building as well, yet the mystery continued unresolved. So, with a sigh, the child resigned to watch the TV that had been set on their table. They saw as Jirokichi arrived on his motorcycle, and Conan noticed something.

The old man wasn't using his goggles.

He jumped off Ran's lap at that, claiming that he had thought of something interesting and wanted to talk to Jirokichi about that. There, he asked to watch the videos from yesterday of KID, only to be told that they didn't have them around.

He genuinely whined at that.

Then, the time for the show came up. Just like yesterday, KID appeared with a poof of smoke, standing in mid air. _Is that jerk pulling the same trick again?_

It started to rain right after that, yet KID remained perfectly still. Just then, the transmission from the helicopter number 7 went out. They claimed the water had likely disrupted it.

"No, it's more likely that KID's assistants interfered with the signal," Nakamori stated, frowning.

"Eh?" Conan couldn't help but blink. "Assistants?"

"Yeah, even though we're not sure if it's a young woman or an old man. We're sure he has at least one."

An assistant... That changed things, by a whole _lot._

Still shocked by the revelation, Conan looked back at the screen, noticing for the first time that the helicopter whose transmission had gotten disrupted just happened to be the one hovering over him.

KID started walking. The helicopter started advancing at the same pace.

And the pieces of the puzzle had finally fit together in Conan's young mind.

* * *

Kaito KID was long gone by the time Suzuki Jirokichi made his way through the street, sitting on his motorcycle. Glancing over to the passenger seat, he couldn't help but laugh, loudly, at the sight of the one and only Blue Wonder at his side.

When a young voice suddenly rang through his ears, the old man froze.

"What's so funny..." from under the sheets that were all around the golden statue, a tiny head popped out. Blue eyes pierced right through his face, and a smirk didn't take long to appear. "... Kaito KID-san?"

"W-What are you talking about?" he defended himself. "I'm laughing because I saved the jewel from KID."

"Stupid, you can't save a jewel from _yourself,_" his eyes rolled. "Next time you try to pretend to be someone that wears contacts, try not to forget to put on your goggles. It's painful for people with contact lenses to ride without them, you know."

Jirokichi ─ KID? ─ let out a loud laugh at that. "I can't be KID. Wasn't I standing near you when KID appeared earlier? I was there when he performed his miracle last night as well."

"Rather than a 'miracle', I would call it a simple trick," Conan's arms crossed behind his head. "Accomplice gets hired by Suzuki Corporation. You take a hook attached to a wire, latch it to one of the buildings before returning to the helicopter, then land to the other, connect a wire to the other. You ride the wire to the middle of the building, make your overly dramatic entrance. Helicopter takes you around while you show off your acting skills and pretend to walk. A bit of smoke, then disappear. Piece of cake."

The old man scoffed. "Why didn't you see the wires when you were at the roof?"

"Amateur mistake," Conan shifted uncomfortably. "I was surprised to see you there, so I didn't notice," he then shrugged. "Well, you did a bit of a stupid mistake as well by forgetting to put on your goggles, so I guess we're even, huh?"

"No, I didn't forget," he pulled the goggles to his face. "I just couldn't wear them," with a grin, he pulled his mask off. "Because it would ruin my disguise."

The wristwatch was pointed right at KID at that instant. It didn't seem to faze the thief, however.

"Aren't you nice?" Conan said, sarcastically. "You're basically leaving your assistant to deal with the police _and _the helicopters all alone."

"It's alright, the police must be panicking. They're confused by the many Number 7's."

"The many...? Ah, I see. So you placed pastes of the real numbers atop the fakes, huh?"

"Bingo," KID just grinned. "Now, my colleague will be able to escape. It really is the Blue Wonder. It helped me escape from the sky."

"What are you even talking about? Blue Wonder refers to the _sea, _not the sky," Conan's eyebrow raised. "And here I thought you have done your homework..."

"But aren't they the same? The blue of the ocean is reflected from the sky," KID's smirk widened as he said that. "And it's the same with thieves and detectives... They appear to be as different as heaven and earth, but if you look closely you'll see they're both insolent fellows who use the key of curiosity to pry open something that someone else wants to keep shut."

The child scoffed at that, feeling bit disgusting the thought of being compared to someone like _him_.

"Stupid. The blue of the sky and the sea are from colour's diffusion and reflection. It's because they're completely different substances. They're not the same thing at all," then added, with an annoyingly flat tone. "Fish tank water is _not _blue, now, is it?"

An exasperated sigh was out of KID's lips at that. "You can't dream, can you?"

"It's not my problem if you dream _too _much."

KID simply stared into this child's far-too seeing eyes, whose wristwatch was firmly pointing at his face, and mentally sighed. Keeping up a poker face around this one was more than a bit hard, and his mind was still running, trying to figure out when was the right moment to put his escape plan in action.

"_Challenging hecklers who interfere with your magic are always a pain to deal with. Thinking you'll floor them right away is the height of foolishness,"_ his recorded father's words, which he had heard just this morning, ran through his mind. "_There's the type that is so curious they can't stand not knowing the trick, even if it means interfering with the magic."_

"You know, I'm actually a bit hurt," continued the thief, pulling out an offended expression, that was so deliberately fake that caused the child to give him a blank stare. "You make it look as my trick is _so _easy to pull off... It took a lot out of me to execute it properly, you know."

"Isn't how all magic tricks are supposed to be?" Conan pointed out. "Terribly difficult for the performer, but seemingly easy for the eyes of the others..."

For some reason KID was unable to comprehend, the young boy's voice trailed off into silence, as his eyes widened dramatically, like realization had just stuck him hard.

_... Easy._

_The last clue of Onii-chan and Ran-neechan's challenge was a bit too easy, in comparison with others... Why would that person make it like that?_

_S → W... Turning ninety degrees? What, exactly? _

_Now, the location they visited were..._

Blinking cluelessly, KID felt his poker face shattering as puzzlement took over. Not that he could be blamed, considering the miniature detective had just stopped pointing at him with that wristwatch. He had pulled out a notepad and a pen he carried inside his pocket instead.

"... Tantei-kun...?"

"Shut up," he barked at him. "Just for once in your life, _try_."

"O-Okay."

Like so, the magician just stupidly watched the boy scribbling a bunch of symbols that had nothing with do with the task on hand. When finished, he turned them over, and gasped.

_... Oxhide?_

"Alright," KID's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Considering your attention has drifted somewhere else..."

There was a mechanical sound, then Conan saw that seat he was sitting in separating from the bike. He made a startled noise, as he found himself left behind, before frowning and taking action.

"The show is over for today!" KID yelled from over his shoulder, a big grin etched on his face as he looked at the little detective trying to regain control of the moving part of the motorcycle, only managing to produce some sparks instead. "Bye-bye, Tantei-kun~!"

His smile was wiped out of his face when he saw a line of flames lighting up, rapidly getting closer and closer. _That bastard! _he realized. _He hit the tank!_

So he began to drive away as fast as he could. Not fast enough it seemed, however. Poker face completely gone at this point, he genuinely screamed.

Conan ran up to the place the explosion had taken place, then stopped in his tracks, watching the white figure flying away from the scene. For a few moments, he didn't move, just stared blankly at the flames that danced right in front of his eyes.

_... Maybe I went a bit overboard?_

Meanwhile, Kaito sighed, wiping the sweat that had rolled down his forehead. The decoy had worked, it seemed, because he could see the boy was glancing up the sky, eyes not leaving the mannequin he had set off a few seconds after escaping, rolling under the bridge.

_That kid... is quite a handful._

"_For them, don't be bound by theory, but to intoxicate them with a display of brilliant magic that verges on the impossible," _he recalled the rest of Kuroba Toichi's message. "_If you can do that, your troublesome heckler will turn into an ardent fan."_

In the darkness of the night, the vicious flames gave out a warm glow, illuminating everything around them. Thanks to that faint light, KID could make out the figure of the young boy and the deeply carved frown on his face.

That was until, without the kid noticing himself, a small, but clearly visible, smile adorned his features.

"_This is how a true magician ought to be."_

Kaito let a chuckle of his own rip away from his throat.

_What kind of magic should I use to boggle his mind next time?_

* * *

A/N:

GhostDespair: I'm not sure about it. I've actually thought about it, since I believe it was interesting to write that, but I don't know if it would be relevant in the story. I might do it in the future, but I'm not making any promises XD

ajjr12: Thanks for sharing those ideas! I will think about them ;)


	45. A Mother's Regret

**File Forty-Five: A Mother's Regret**

When Conan arrived school that morning, he deeply regretted his actions last night.

The reason was right in front of him. Gazes, belonging to every single student, were instantly fix into his form the moment he crossed the doorway of his classroom. Everything had stopped, movement had ceased and silence settled in the moment he took a step inside.

He did his best to ignore the unwanted attention as he made his way to his desk. Which was quite difficult when even his friends were gaping at him, except for Haibara. She was content with just give him a teasing smirk, which wasn't particularly better, but he guessed he would take it.

Kobayashi entered the room not long thereafter. Her reaction when she saw him there wasn't any different than that of her students ─ sans, again, Haibara Ai, of course.

It didn't take a genius to know that all this was because he had made an appearance in the first page of many newspapers ─ angering Jirokichi to beyond belief in the process.

The media had dubbed him as _The KID Killer._

And Conan really, _really _wanted to get back home as soon as possible.

Sighing tiredly to himself, the boy slid his hand inside his school backpack, with all the intention to take out the books he needed for the day. He froze however when his fingers brushed against something completely different.

"Conan-kun?" he didn't hear Ayumi's voice questioning from the seat behind him. "Is something wrong?"

He pulled it out. It was the leather wallet that had Ran's note on it.

And he finally realized it.

_Oxhide... Leather!_

Completely unaware of the shocked gasps heard in the entire roof, Conan pulled the wallet apart.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Yet, they were there. Words.

Definitely a hidden message, written in English:

"_Dear Yusaku Kudo:_

_?_

─ _No.1412"_

Suddenly he was reminded about something his mother had told him. That it was Yusaku the one that had read the number 1412 as 'KID' by accident, giving the notorious thief such an eccentric name.

"Edogawa-kun?" his teacher's voice brought him back to reality.

When his head raised up, and noticed every single person in the room, including the teacher, staring into his soul, Conan managed a weak, and not convincing at all, smile.

Loads of question followed after that.

Immediately, Conan regretted his actions, _again._

* * *

If there was something Conan's life had been plagued of ─ besides, obviously, murders and other forms of crime ─ was people that set such a terrible example that it was actually beneficial for the kid. Because thanks to them Conan had learnt, at such a short age, who he definitely should _not _become in the future.

And Mouri Kogoro was the perfect role model for that.

That was the reason he didn't find it surprising when the child found out the drunken detective had managed eight million yen. Apparently, he had been promised ten million yen for a case he hadn't even solved yet.

Luckily ─ or not, considering he was now stuck inside home, tied tightly against the couch where he had passed out due to alcohol ─ Eri had decided to take matters into her own hands. Even if she fervently claimed that she was doing this for Ran's sake and only.

For all that, he was there right now, simply staring at the woman that had hired Mouri. She was young ─ unlike her husband, who had been targeted ─ and very, _very _loud. There was a permanent grin plastered on her face, which didn't make her look _too _concerned about her husband's possible death.

The wife ─ Fujieda Motoka ─ eagerly led them towards the study, where she kept the evidence she had found under her Motoka's pillow. There was a bag, with two different notes that read '_Take it easy' _and '_Watch your back', _together with a single bullet, making the message perfectly clear.

A knock on the door brought everyone's attention. "Madame," the butler called. "A young lady wants to see you."

"Huh? What kind of person?"

"That is, a beauty as pretty as the lawyer."

Having convinced herself that this woman was, whatever the reason, his husband's mistress, she had rushed to meet that person. Why she was so sure he was cheating on her, Conan really didn't know, and didn't _want _to know either.

"You thieving cat!" Motoka's shouting resounded through the entire mansion and their ears as if she was actually there with them and not downstairs. "What did you come here for? Get out!"

Partly curious about what was going on ─ but mostly hoping that this, somehow, didn't turn into yet _another _murder case ─ Conan quickly left the room. Ran and her mother followed not long thereafter.

"Didn't I say that you're mistaken?" a very familiar voice resounded on his ears.

By the time he recognized it, he had already turned around the corner. Eyes wide as two plates, and mouth threatening to drop into the floor, Conan simply stood there, blankly staring the woman he knew extremely well.

Before he started walking backwards, without making a sound. Then, just as he got out of sight, he felt his back bumping into something.

Legs.

"Conan-kun?" he spun around instantly, just to see Ran standing there, beside Eri, blinking confused eyes at him. "What's wrong with-?"

"Hide me."

"Eh?"

Conan's mouth opened to speak.

"Co-chan~!" he couldn't help the groan that escaped from his lips at the feeling of two arms enveloping him and the floor leaving his feet. "I missed you so much!"

"Mom..." the child growled under his breath.

"Oh, look at you! You've gotten so big!"

"Mom, I'm pretty sure I need oxygen to live..."

"You've gotten heavier, too..."

"... Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Don't worry, Co-chan! You're as cute as ever!"

"That's definitely _not _a compliment."

Ran's lips twitched upwards, almost feeling bad for the child getting glomped by his mother, struggling to recover his oh-so-precious freedom. Once realizing there was no way out, he went limp on her arms, a defeated look on his face, letting his mother cuddle with him.

Blue pleading eyes met with hers. Ran simply let out a nervous laugh.

Then pointedly ignored the look, which clearly screamed 'betrayal', that he sent her way.

"Yukiko?" her mother gasped, after taking a moment to let the events sink in her head.

Yukiko stopped.

"Eri?"

Conan and Ran blinked at their mothers.

None of them dared to say anything, even as Yukiko seemed to return Conan to the safety of the ground. They both simply stared, confusedly, as the two women looked at each other, identical smirks crossing their faces. Honestly, Conan feared for the worse.

At least, until they clasped hands, grinning to each other.

"Yuki-chan, long time no see!"

"Yeah, how are you?"

Conan was confused, and couldn't stop gaping at the sight of the two women chattering with each other, like two friends that hadn't seen each other for a long, _long _time. Which turned to be true, according to Ran, since they had gone to the same high school.

"Nevermind that," Conan raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to come here by Yusaku," the woman explained.

His eyes narrowed a bit. "Were you?"

Yukiko didn't reply to that.

* * *

"The only evidence there is are these three items," Kisaki observed. "It'll be a miracle to figure out who the criminal is with this."

"But," this time, the child almost didn't react when the woman kneeled down next to him, trapped him within her arms, and started rubbing her face against his cheek. "With Co-chan here, that miracle may just happen!"

Conan couldn't, for the life of him, figure out his mother's intentions.

Not that he had ever been able to, but something told him that the real reason she was here, in Japan, wasn't Yusaku. Well, it _could _have been the excuse she had to come visit, but he couldn't help but feel there was something else.

That woman had always been unpredictable like that.

"Eh?" Eri was curious. "Is that true?"

"Well, Conan-kun is very smart," a smiling Ran explained to her mother. "He sometimes points stuff out that seems to be irrelevant, but they turn out to be quite useful for the investigation."

"Yeah!" Yukiko smiled, widely. "That's how incredible my son is!"

"I'm actually surprised you're so happy about this, considering you've always wanted me to be interested in acting, or something like that," with a plain tone, Conan pointed out.

The woman's grip on her son loosened a little. "I wouldn't be able to call myself a proper mother if I didn't embrace each and every single one of my child's strength and ambitions..."

"It's a wonder how you still consider yourself a proper mother."

Her eyebrow twitched. "It's probably for the best," she pinched the little one's nose, quite painfully so. "With such an ugly frown and that nasty attitude, I don't see how you could've succeeded."

_Didn't you just say I was cute, anyway?_

"Stop that, you're making me sad."

Every single female in the group gave Conan, who scowled while rubbing his sore nose, a confused look, completely taken away by the fact that _this _child could get emotionally hurt for such a comment.

"Because if that's true, that means I'm actually _not _adopted, am I?"

This lead Ran and Eri to sigh, watching as the child yelped in pain again when his mother started to pull his cheeks, in anger.

Eventually, the woman let go of him in order to pay attention to the rest of the case, simply following after the butler, who was leading all of them to the security room. Silently, Conan trailed behind his mother, walking beside Ran, watching as the woman talked, giggled about something with Eri.

Conan was aware. Conan was well aware that he would never, ever be able to understand such an eccentric personality as his mother's. That was a fact.

But he was observant.

At least observant enough to small little somethings, such as the tension on her shoulders or the shadow behind her eyes, that slipped through the mask of such professional actress like she was.

* * *

Predictably so, Fujieda Mikio had been killed.

By itself, the case hadn't been the most complex one Conan had seen on his life, but at first he didn't seem to see what he was doing there ─ Eri and Yukiko were doing most of the work.

One hint from Yusaku ─ relied by his wife ─ later and the case was solved and shut. The killer had been the butler, who simply wanted to protect the garden the late madam had treasured so much. The victim had wanted, after all, to demolish the house, and the butler couldn't take it.

Even so, Conan had been forced to see the Night Baroness, aided by Eri, showing off and taking all the credit, even if it had been her son who had, reluctantly, told her his deductions.

It was very late when they got back home. His _actual_, real home at Beika Town, District 2, Block 21.

"Hey," the child sighed, feeling very much annoyed as he let himself be carried, against his will, inside the house. "You better not be thinking of kidnapping me or something."

His mother had asked Ran to keep him with her for a couple of days, and the teen had accepted ─ after Conan had actually _whined _about that, to which Ran had replied with an angry _'Conan-kun, that's your mother!', _to which he couldn't really argue.

"Come on, Co-chan, why do you think I would be able to do something like that?" she pointedly ignored the dirty look her child directed her way. "I was being honest when I said that Yusaku sent me here."

Conan's annoyed posture dissipated when Yukiko placed him back on the ground. His curious eyes watched her shuffle through her several bags in the living room - he figured she might have left them there right after arriving to Japan.

"Let me see... I bought a few things earlier today. I should be able to fix us something to eat..."

"Mom?"

"Yeah?" she didn't look away from her bags as she shuffled through them.

"Are you okay?"

Her movements came into a halt the moment those words reached her ears.

The constant ticking of a clock pertentrated the entire. Mother and son just looked at each other, still as the silent night, unwilling to break the quietness that had settled in with just a single, simple question.

The ticking didn't stop.

Yukiko then moved, shifting slightly on her feet as she watched his son. Searching blue eyes were piercing through her soul, trying to unravel the secrets that her heart contained. Worried, even if the child would never admit it.

That made her smile instead.

The mother closed the distance between them. For once, the young boy didn't even try to move, even as she kneeled down right in front of him.

"Despite it all, you really never change, do you?" her smile faltered slightly. "You have always been such a perceptive little boy."

Frowning a bit, Conan decided to speak. "What happened?"

Yukiko hesitated, her conflicted eyes watching her youngest son for a few moments until she let out a sigh.

"Shinichi called the other day."

At first sight, Conan didn't seem to react. If anyone had paid attention enough, however, they would have seen a slight, barely noticeable jump his body gave because the shock, or the subtle narrowing of his eyes, upon understanding the implications those words carried.

"He told us everything that has happened," she explained. "Including the fact that you've found out about... _that._"

"Did you know?" Conan was honestly surprised about the shake of her head the woman offered as an answer. "Not even Dad?"

"He kept it secret from all of us," Yukiko said. "He must have been trying to protect us by not involving anyone."

"But why?" the child raised his voice a tiny bit. "Knowing Dad, he should have been able to figure it out instantly! Why didn't he-?"

"Because it's about Shinichi."

Conan didn't understand what she meant at first until she, patiently, explained to him.

"Conan, your father is only human. He might look like he would never, ever make a mistake in his deductions, but if it involves you or your brother, things are bound to be different."

Everything began to make sense to him, even if it didn't fail to shock him. The thought of his father, of all people, actually failing to reach the truth by himself would have been inconceivable a few years back.

But he had seen things that he thought that would never happen developing in front of his eyes, so the idea of his perfect parent becoming... _human _wasn't so far fetched as it could have been.

Because there is no way the word '_perfection'_ could exist in such an flawed world as the one they lived in.

"Is there a reason he called just now?" Conan asked, curiously. "It's weird he hasn't done that until then."

"He didn't say much, but I think he was afraid to," Yukiko replied, honestly. "He must have guessed that Yusaku would want to be involved if he found out."

"And is he going to?"

"He pleaded us not to get involved," there was a long sigh, once more. "Even if it pains us, we will respect his wishes."

There was a confused look on Conan's eyes, that the retired actress ignored. She knew perfectly well that he could not understand their decision, as they both had always been known to do whatever they saw fit, regardless the wishes of other people.

Especially if it concerned Shinichi. When he was deeply involved into this shady business.

Her gaze then softened all sudden, puzzling the child even more. He didn't have the time to ask, though, because he found himself being brought into a hug.

No, not one of those annoyingly tight hugs where her mother would rub her face against his, much in his dismay. This one was more gentle and sincere, in a way.

"It must have been hard, right?" there was a gentleness in her voice that Conan rarely heard on her. "Dealing with all of this on your own."

The child's tension vanished, his gaze softening as well as he finally got what she meant.

"I can't say it wasn't," he honestly replied.

Yukiko smiled softly.

"You have been brave, you know that?" her hug tightened even more. "Very, very brave."

He couldn't help the humorless chuckle that emerged from the depths of his throat, fueled by the many, many memories where he would be around those people in black, terrified of them finding either him or the people he held close to his heart.

Such as the other time. When he had been all alone in that dark locker, shaking and hugging his knees, tightly, praying that Gin didn't open that door and put into an end to everything he knew and cherished.

"I'm not brave, Mom," he barely whispered. "I'm far from it."

Her hand went to the back of his small head. "Being brave is not about not feeling fear," Yukiko said, gently pressing his face against the crook of her neck. "Is to act, to keep living despite how terrified you are."

Conan didn't know what to say about that.

"Believe me. You're the bravest young man I have ever met in my life."

Wordlessly, the child returned the hug, allowing Yukiko to bring him even closer to her body, burrowing himself deeper into his mother's arms.

The ticking of the clock continued, but this time around it went unnoticed.

* * *

It was an insomniac Yukiko that wandered through the halls of the silent night. She had tried to sleep for hours, but was ultimately rendered unable to close her eyes.

No matter what she did, she couldn't sleep. Not when _that_ feeling in the pit of her stomach was still there, mind torturing, reminding her of all those times she could have acted better. When she could have _been _better.

Reminding her that she was such a terrible mother.

_I wonder if you are feeling the same right now, Yusaku, _she wouldn't doubt it for a second.

Desperate to soothe her nerves, the woman gingerly opened the door of the room. Through the darkness, she could make out a bundle of blankets, rising and falling in a steady pace, soft, barely audible snores filling the silence.

_"They think I'm dead," _the voice of her eldest resounded in her ears, as she quietly tiptoed her way inside. _"That I took all clues, information and every single piece of evidence against them to the grave."_

She stopped right beside the bed, shoulders dropping slightly and a faint smile drawing on her face at the sight of the very young child sprawled across the mattress. Giggling soft enough not to disturb his slumber, she couldn't help but remember the old times.

When she, and Yusaku, would find both her sons cuddling with each other, having falling asleep on the sofa when their parents weren't looking.

"_If they find out you know everything, not only will they eliminate you. They will also begin to look into both of your lives, and won't stop until they squeeze out every single little detail, until there's nothing left."_

With uppermost care, the mother's fingers curled around the blanket, tucking his child, tightly. Her smile faltered slightly, letting in its place a weird, pained grimace.

"_And it won't be long until they find out about Conan."_

So, kneeling down next to his bed, Yukiko simply watched her son, who still was sleeping so soundly and contently that warmed her heart.

But it was more like a bittersweet feeling.

_My young, young boy. To think you have been through so much at such a short age. Far too much, even for an adult, to handle. _

_We thought you would be just fine in Japan, with your brother. That you didn't really need us around with him there._

_But we were naive, weren't we?_

Her hand went to his hair, gently tucking some of it away from his eyes that remained closed, blissfully unaware of what was happening in the world outside his dreamland.

_We should have understood we were pressuring Shinichi. We should have understood why he had been so strongly against that decision._

_And, above all, we should have been there for you._

_For all that I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. _

Bending down, Yukiko pushed Conan's bangs away from his forehead before gently pressing her lips against it, in a tender, heartfelt goodnight kiss.

_But I guess it's too late. _

_We have failed, haven't we, Yusaku?_

Conan didn't wake throughout it all, not even when Yukiko closed the door behind her back outside his room. Not even when she leaned down against it, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath and close her eyes.

Not even when she let her hand slid on her pants' pocket, pulling her phone out, before dialing a number and pressing the device against her ear.

"... What do you want, Mom? Do you have any idea of what time it is?"

When that voice, laced with sleep and annoyance all the same, rang on her ears, Yukiko let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

And a genuine smile appeared on her face.

Hearing his voice was more than enough for her.

* * *

"Co-chan," the child looked up at the mention of his name. "If you don't hurry up you'll be late to school."

Shrugging a bit, the child left the note he had been reading up until a few minutes in order to finish breakfast. Curious about what had caught her child's attention, Yukiko glanced at the note.

"Kaito KID?" she blinked twice. "Hey, doesn't that say it's for...?"

"For Dad, yeah," he simply replied. "It's more than ten years old, though. I doubt it will change anything even if I gave it to him."

"What's up with the random question mark?" she held it between her hands.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, but I haven't got a clue."

Yukiko hummed a bit. "That reminds me... There was this time when Yusaku asked me to give a card to someone else. It was a weird, just like this one."

Conan's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Dad did?"

"Yeah. It just had one exclamation mark," the mother commented. "It was a reply to a fan letter that a friend of my teacher had sent him. Mystery maniacs are so weird..."

"Teacher?"

"Yeah, you know. The famous Japanese magician that taught me all about the art of disguise. Kuroba Toichi."

_Kuroba Toichi... _he went oddly silent at the mention of that particular name.

"Ah, that brings memories," his mother gave him the note back to him, whose eyes rolled, clearly expecting her to begin rambling nonsense, as always. "That was about ten years ago... It makes me feel a little old."

Conan bit down a comment about her age.

"Say," the child interrupted her before she could continue. "Did he have any children?"

"Yeah," she replied confused by his unusual question. Her puzzled expression did not last long, because it shifted to a rather annoyed one once her arms crossed right in front of her chest. "There was that little brat. He was around Shin-chan's age, so they would often play together when they were younger and I went to visit Toichi-san. Even you met him when you were very, very little."

Pondering over it a bit, the child's finger went to his chin, stroking it lightly as he thought. Now that he thought about it, he dimly remembered his father's hand over his mother's shoulders, who cried as she held his little hand, and his brother standing awkwardly there, just beside a girl he didn't know. She seemed to be hugging a boy. Everyone, including himself, were all dressed in black. _A funeral? _he wondered.

"Why does it sound like you hate this guy so much?" Conan then asked, with a plain voice.

"Because he was a rude little jerk!" she exclaimed. "That kid called me a '_beautiful old lady'_ when we first met. Can you believe it?!"

"Oh, that's not right."

"Yeah!"

"Why would he call you '_beautiful'_?"

Conan quickly left his house right after that, hoping that her fury would recede by the time school was over.

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I like your idea! I'll really going to take it into consideration for future chapters :)

Asahina Chihaya: Actually, Kuroba Toichi died eight years before canon, as far as I know. Maybe things can change a little bit here? I'm not completely sure XD

Gamergail: Wow, I didn't realize I had made so many mistakes, lol! Anyway, thanks for bringing me those into my attention, I really appreciated it!


	46. That Black Car

**File Forty-Six: That Black Car**

_YOU WIN!_

_Congratulations, Player One!_

"I did it!" Ayumi jumped up and down, holding the game controller close to her chest. "I won!"

Conan did not appreciate the bright grin the girl was wearing at the moment. "Congratulations," so he settled with a basic answer, however, hoping that his irritation did not show.

Not that he tried _that _hard.

"You don't sound happy," Ayumi accused.

"Don't worry about it, Ayumi-chan," Mitsuhiko muffled a laugh with his hand. "Conan-kun is just angry that he isn't as good as us playing games."

"Yeah," Genta agreed, with a grin. "He's such a sore loser!"

"Leave me alone," he grumbled while passing ─ rather roughly ─ the controller to Genta, before moving so he could play on his place. He then noticed something, causing him to look around the room, confused. "Isn't Haibara-san back yet?"

"No," the girl replied. "She has been gone for a while."

"That's weird," the freckled boy nodded his head.

"Ai-kun is in the phone," from behind them, Agasa said as he sat on a chair with a mug with coffee.

"Who is she talking to?" asked Mitsuhiko, genuinely curious.

Professor Agasa shrugged.

The four Detective Boys said nothing about it, just taking a moment of silence to ponder over the mystery that rounded on their heads. At their blatant display of curiosity, Agasa couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Listen, listen," Genta suddenly spoke up gathering everyone's attention. Once everyone was looking at him, he put a hand beside his mouth and whispered ─ or _tried _to whisper, since every single person in that room could hear perfectly well. "When I was in my way to the bathroom earlier, I spotted Haibara talking over the phone. There was a _big, _radiant smile on her face."

Conan's eyebrow raised, a blank look sent towards his friend. "Are we talking about the same person?"

Then, a gasp startled the three boys. Ayumi had her hands over her mouth, shocked about whatever she had thought about.

"Do you think... Do you think Ai-chan likes someone?"

"Eh?!" both Mitsuhiko and Conan loudly reacted at that.

And Genta blinked twice, looking to his male friends. "Hey, what has gotten into you two?" he wondered, confusion written all over his face..

"A-Ah, well," Mitsuhiko started stuttering, his face as bright as a tomato. "A-Actually..."

As the freckled boy clumsily fought to explain himself, Ayumi's eyes fixed on Conan. The child in question didn't even try to say something, just grumbled some inaudible words while turning his attention away, an annoyed expression plastered on his face.

The dark shade of red on his cheeks was pretty noticeable in her eyes, though.

"What's all of this about?" everyone flinched at the _very _familiar voice.

"Ai-chan!" Ayumi was the first one to react. "You see, we..."

Everything else that was said on that conversation was lost to Conan, as his attention drifted somewhere else. Wide eyes simply stared at Haibara, who was making her way to the couch, joining the group in whatever they were doing.

But there was no trace of the irritated expression that would permanently be stuck on her face.

There actually _was _a soft, happy smile instead.

For some reason Conan couldn't comprehend, there was a strange, unfamiliar feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

It didn't last long, because the doorbell rang and he knew exactly who had just arrived. So, with a tired groan, he offered himself to get the door.

Of course, he found himself face to face with his ever-smiling mother. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses, for reasons that ─ he was sure ─ would never, _ever _understand.

* * *

"How did you get it, exactly?"

Not quite understanding the words that were just uttered, the mother simply looked over her child by the corner of her eye. He might have caught on her confusion, because he huffed, irritably.

"Your license."

"Ah, so that was what it was!" Yukiko's bright grin didn't take long to appear, her gaze returning to the road. "You, see, that's actually a very exciting story! It all began when-"

"Nevermind. I don't want to hear it."

He still wondered what kind of person in that entire world would give that woman an actual driving license considering, well, _everything. _But he guessed living without knowing was preferable than suffering through an hour-long storytime.

"Umm... Can I ask you something?" Yukiko glanced to Mitsuhiko from the rear mirror. "Where are we going now?"

"Come on and tell us already!" Genta nodded.

"Please?" Ayumi pleaded, hands clasped against each other.

The woman giggled at that. "It's a place where everyone will be extremely happy."

Seeing that they were not going to get any answer from her, the three children whined, clearly stating their discontentment.

"Conan-kun's mom is being mean!" Ayumi complained.

With a sigh, Conan turned to look at them. "Guys, remember that I'm not supposed to be her son," he told them. "She's just some old woman I'm related to, okay?"

He saw his friends tensing and, suddenly, the car's temperature dropped a few degrees. Slowly, he turned towards his mother.

A gelid, murderous glare met his eyes.

Conan's sense of self-preservation had to be damaged, his friends decided, considering that he just gave her a blank look, eyebrow raising before he said, in a very plain voice:

"What? You want me to lie even further?"

The three children then awed, amazed, at the sight of the woman easily concussing the little boy without losing control of the car. At all.

And Haibara simply chuckled softly, not surprised but ultimately amused.

Yukiko's phone then started ringing, causing the woman to look away from her groaning son so she could pull over in a side of the road.

"Ah, Karata-san!... Eh? Because of a little unexpected hiccup in the timing, Number 0 might take more time?"

Huffing due to his annoyance, Conan rubbed his sore head, grumping and mumbling all sorts of complains directed to his mother, that happily chatted with whoever was on the other side of the phone, blatantly ignoring him. So he crossed his arms, turning his head to look away.

Something on the mirror caused all his irritation to dissipate.

Maybe he was just imagining things, but he could've sworn that a very suspicious-looking, black car had just pulled into the side as soon as Yukiko had done so.

"Okay, okay. In any case, we're heading there now. Thanks for the help!"

The call was ended right after that and the woman went back to the road to continue her way. The black car did the same, Conan observed.

And by the way his mother's hands grasped the wheel a little bit harder, he knew she did as well.

"I wonder what it could be," Mitsuhiko wondered, completely unaware of what was going on. "Number 0..."

"Could it be the number of a robot or something?" Genta speculated.

"Better try with 'recently completed film'," Conan plainly stated. "Number 0 is an industry term people in the film or drama production profession use."

The three simply blinked at their friend before their mouths hang open in awe. Just then, his mother stopped because of a red light and turned to give him a curious look. Which he pointedly ignored.

"Then," a smiling Ayumi bounced on her seat. "Which movie is it?"

"Considering what I have just said and the 'timing' Mom just mentioned, which probably concerns the color correction for a movie, I can only think of one single movie that everyone would enjoy," an arrogant smirk was painted on his features. "We're going to see a preview screening of _Kamen Yaiba: The Movie 2,_ am I wrong?"

In between the squeals of excitement that filled the car, Yukiko couldn't help but study her son, particularly the confident smile he was wearing ─ and couldn't help but think of how much he was beginning to look like his brother and father. After blinking a few times, the woman couldn't help but smile a little.

If this had happened a year ago, his reaction would have been much, much different. It was more than a bit surprising to see him that he wasn't a tiny embarrassed to tell anyone his deductions.

So she watched him, saying something at his friends that was lost to her, a raised eyebrow as if he couldn't understand their excitement, yet the barely noticeable smile he wore betraying him.

Yukiko couldn't remember him smiling that often.

"Hey," Ayumi's voice brought her off her thoughts. "The traffic light turned green a while ago."

"Eh?" she whined, looking back at the light that, by that time, had changed to yellow. She frowned. "I'm sorry," at the sound of her serious tone, Conan couldn't hold back a wince. "I lost focus."

Yukiko's foot slowly lowered, gradually pressing on the pedal.

And Conan's hand slowly inched closer to the door.

"Conan-kun what's wrong?

"You look pale."

"Why are you gripping the door handle so tightly?"

"Because I'm too short to reach for the hand grip above my head."

"... And why would you do that?" the three asked in unison, sharing their confusion.

Not that Conan had the time to answer. The car started moving again, just a second before the light turned red again, in an incredibly high speed that caused the three scream in the back seat. Their screams, together with Conan's loud complains about her reckless driving, mixed together in a terribly chaotic commotion inside the car.

Which Haibara simply watched unfold with a blank look.

_At least she's still driving in all four wheels, _was his thought, just as the car started to give a ninety-degree turn. "Hey!"

Yukiko just hummed, happily, and continued driving as if nothing had happened.

"Conan-kun's mom is so much fun!"

_... Where's the fun, exactly?_

Had Conan had just a little less sense of dignity, he might had dropped into his knees and kissed the ground. But as things were, he didn't. He just stepped out, wearing a _very _pissed off expression on his face, glaring daggers at his mother.

Who didn't even react to it, just took her sunglasses off before entering.

Both of them kept at it, even as they made their way inside the studio. Karata, as Yukiko had called him, greeted them with a wide smile on his face and explained that he was the timing man. By that time, Yukiko was giggling to the children, telling them about the times she was an actress ─ or something like that, he hadn't really paid any attention ─ and Conan had just given up trying to get his mother see reason.

"I see now," he snapped out of it when Haibara talked to him. "Your deduction skills might have come from your father, but everything else must have been inherited from your mother."

Conan briefly glanced at the woman talking with the rest of his friends, his irritation showing on his face the next instant. "How so?" he mumbled. "I see absolutely nothing in common-"

"Your ability to act so easily in order to put people in your favour, as well as the reckless behavior you exhibit when you hear the word 'cut'... Should I continue?"

"No, thank you," the boy rolled his eyes.

As he looked away from her with a frown, grumbling something under his breath that only he could understand, Haibara couldn't help but glance at him again. His indignation that could be noticed from a mile away caused her to chuckle.

Because the movie preview wasn't going to be ready until a few hours, the children plus Yukiko were given a tour through the studio. Negami Yoshihiko ─ the film man ─ and Hojima Akira ─ in charge of printing ─ showed them around, taking them to places such as the screening room, the dark room ─ more like the _door _to the dark room, since they didn't actually go inside ─ or the developing machine. Everyone was more than amazed throughout it all.

It was almost time now and they were about to go back to the screening room when Furumura Norihiro ─ the salesman ─ appeared and told them that it wouldn't be ready until 11 PM, at the earliest.

"Is it going to be that late?" Yukiko glanced at her wristwatch. "This is bad. If it's at that hour, I won't be able to make it to my flight," then, she turned to look at the group of kids. "And I can't just leave the kids here that late, either."

"Then, how about the kids come over to my place first?" Hojima offered. "My apartment is nearby. They can sleep there until it's time for the screening, and I can take them home in my car afterwards."

"Well... If you would?"

"But are you really going to put these kids in your disgustingly dirty room?" Negami raised an eyebrow to his coworker."

"That's mean! It's just a little messy," before he could get an answer, he turned to the children. "Well, if it's alright with the kids."

All of sudden, Conan fell all gazes on him causing him to let out a long sigh, before deciding to face his friends.

"Hey, let's stay, Conan-kun!" Ayumi voiced.

"Tomorrow is Sunday anyway!" Mitsuhiko instantly agreed with her.

"That's right! And we can go back to school and brag to the others!" Genta added. "Well, Conan?"

Their friend gave them a long look, then let his shoulders drop, seemingly resigning himself to his fate of getting very, _very _late home tonight.

"... It's okay," he conceded them. "But make sure to call home and tell them you'll coming late."

"Okay!"

He didn't notice the curious look he was receiving from his mother. _When did Co-chan became the mother of his group? _she wondered, an amused smile on her face as she watched his son talking with his friends, just like any other kid of his age. And, truly, she was glad he was.

Then, she saw something that caused her smile to widen even more. Haibara was intently staring at his face, before turning away as soon as it had happened.

"Co-chan," like the self-respecting mother she was, of course Yukiko called his son over as soon as his friends were busy talking with Hojima.

"What is it?" he moved closer, his voice already telling her he could _feel _she was up to no good.

She kneeled down next to him. "You seem popular with the girls," was all she whispered in his ear.

"Ah, you mean Ayumi-chan?" despite the slightly embarrassed posture, he shrugged it off easily. At some point of another, he had grown used to that girl's undeniable crush on him, Yukiko guessed.

"There's another one."

"Eh?" now, he was confused.

"Ai-chan~!" she noticed the way Conan jumped at the mention of her name, before his head snapped towards the direction the girl in question was, standing beside Ayumi, completely unaware of the conversation taking place between mother and son. "She has stared at your face ten times today."

"She's probably just wondering what I am doing with my life."

"Silly," Yukiko giggled at his innocence. "The only reason girls stare at boys, aside from when they have something on their faces, is because they like them."

The boy went strangely silent at that, turning to watch the girl once more, blinking a few times. Just as Yukiko was about to press even further, undoubtedly with all intention of teasing him some more, she paused at the sigh of a certain expression on his face. Much different from the flustered mess she had been expecting.

"That's impossible," he finally said, closing his eyes and placing his hands back on his pockets.

"Eh? Why?"

"Because Haibara-san already likes somebody else."

For an instant, it was silent between them two. The woman simply looked at the little boy with a shocked expression, who simply stared back at the young scientist, deeply immersed inside his own thoughts.

It all went away the next second, however, when a finger poked his cheek.

"What's this~?" by that point he hadn't even began to understand the meaning of her wide smile, but he still could feel irritation building up inside. "Could it be?"

"What?" he snapped.

"Are you, by any chance, jealous, Co-chan?"

"... What are you even talking about?" Conan tried to play it as a stupid, outrageous idea, but even he could feel his face warming up.

She took a moment to really appreciate the sight of her cute, bashful son, before humming in thought.

"But it would be weird if she didn't," she pondered. "Did you know? At that time you were at the hospital, Ai-chan asked me to get her some particular kind flowers she wanted to bring you. She hoped they would make you feel better, she said."

_Yeah, because that heart attack was all I needed to feel better._

But at least, that explained _how _in the world that girl had managed to get a hold of a bouquet of Edelweiss ─ _Edelweiss, for crying out loud._ Of course his mother had something to do with it.

_Still, that girl certainly didn't have to go give Mom the wrong idea..._

_This is so troublesome._

"Why would she want those flowers, specifically?" his mother kept on asking.

"Hanakotoba," he replied, plainly. "She had wanted to pass on a message to me," he huffed, them mumbled. "She could have just said it to my face, that weird girl."

Yukiko smiled at his son.

"Sometimes, we don't need that many words to convey a feeling," she explained to him, patiently. "In some cases, they run interference with the real message that's intended to transmit."

"She most likely just wanted to mess with me, though."

"Whichever the case, aren't you glad?" she asked him. "That you were so strangely interested in this stuff when you were younger."

Conan tilted his head at that, realizing that he could faintly remember that. When he was around four he would sit hours and hours to an end in front of his mother's big book about Hanakotoba. Frantically reading, writing some stuff down on his little notebook. Stuff he couldn't really recall at the moment, but guessed it was just some childish dumb nonsense.

_Why was I that interested in flowers, anyway?_

"By the way," Conan's expression went serious, changing the conversation topic altogether. "You noticed it as well, didn't you? That strange car on the way here."

With a frown, the woman nodded. "So you noticed it, too."

"Of course. There's no way anyone else would quietly wait behind a car until the light turns yellow. Unless it was so as not to gather our attention."

There were tailing them, Conan could say without a single doubt in his mind. From the way his mother stood up, oddly pensive, he could tell she was thinking about the same thing.

"The car's target was definitely Haibara-san," Conan stated. "The chance that it was them who were following us is high," then, a frown made appearance on his face. "The ones that Onii-chan has messed with and made him take that poisonous drug. Those men in black."

Her arms crossed in front of her chest, while she stood up. "No. There's another possibility," the child looked back at the mother, completely stunned at her words. "The people in that car may have been..." the thick tension then was dissolved when her face broke in a big grin. "... some of my die-hard fans!"

"... I'm positive that's _not _the case."

His mother looked as if she was about to argue.

"You purposely put on sunglasses and a hat so they wouldn't recognize you. Are you telling me the famous magician Kuroba Toichi was such a bad teacher that your disguises can be easily told apart by a mere fan?"

Yukiko couldn't say anything about that.

In a flash, it was time for her to leave. Because of that, all five children and the employees that had been showing them around were standing outside, watching Yukiko ─ now with sunglasses and hat once more ─ who was about to leave on her car. Before she had gotten to the street, she turned around and waved everyone goodbye.

Before she called Conan who obediently, if reluctantly, moved closer.

"That girl who keeps staring at you," Yukiko said to him. "Make sure to stay with her until the end."

"I know, I know," he grumbled. "How annoying..." then, his half opened eyelids stared blankly at his mother. "You're going to be late for your plane, you know?"

"Right, right. Bye, Co-chan!" with a bright smile, she turned to the rest. "Bye, everyone! I'll see you later!"

With that, Yukiko drove away, her smile still on place even when she couldn't see the children anymore. Even when she passed by that suspicious black car parked on the side of the street.

It wasn't until another couple of miles that she let her mask drop, her beautiful smile vanishing into nothing, replaced by a line, formed by her lips pressing together so tightly that it actually hurt.

She really, _really _didn't want to leave Conan again. Especially when that car was still wandering around.

_But Conan is a smart kid, _Yukiko reminded herself. _He might be young, but he's definitely going to find a way out of this situation. He's going to make it out safe._

_If I interfere, however... If I bring the spotlight to myself..._

_If they realize that Kudo Yukiko is in Japan and seen with a little child..._

_Not only the media will go crazy about this. Those people will begin to put two and two together. Then..._

_Then..._

Her hands clenched around the wheel.

Unaware of the dilemma that was going through his mother's mind at the moment, little Conan only stared blankly at the spot the car had just been in. He only reacted when he heard Ayumi calling his name, to which he quickly nodded, before following suit.

Curious eyes watched Haibara walk quietly, a few feet ahead of him.

"_The only reason girls stare at boys, aside from when they have something on their faces, is because they like them."_

Unconsciously, his hand went to his face and gingerly rubbed his cheek.

* * *

Just as his coworker had warned, Hojima's room was truly a mess. Once the light was turned on, the kid were met with a sight that caused them to gape, yet not in a good way. Books and random CD covers were scattered everywhere, boxes and even empty juice cans lied in the floor, discarded and completely forgotten.

_Here I thought Occhan's room was messy..._

Hojima's room wasn't all much better, but at least it was barely tolerable. There was a bed, big enough for all five children to fit, lining up sideways, and it should have been enough, really. It wasn't like they needed much more than that, anyway.

Like that, Negami left so he could get some work done, while Hojima and Furumura ─ who set the camera down after recording his video diary for today ─ settled on the couches.

"What should I do?" Ayumi could barely contain her enthusiasm. "I'm too excited to sleep!"

Conan lied on the mattress, eyes closed yet awake as an owl, unable to doze off because of the constant noise provoked by his friends' chattering. So he bit his lip, trying to block out the voices of Mitsuhiko and Genta, who wouldn't just stop talking.

"If I remember correctly, it was _The Counter Attack of Baron Potato, _right?"

The young sleuth pulled the blanket over his head, groaning softly in frustration.

"No, that's not it. The subtitle from the preview was... It was..."

"It was..."

Too bad the cloth didn't seem to be soundproof.

"The subtitle was..."

"It was..."

At that point, Conan couldn't take it anymore. In a violent motion, he raised from the depths of his cocoon of blankets. "It's the _Requiem of the Potato Queen, _alright?!" he basically yelled. "Now that's settled would you please-?!"

Then he noticed his words were falling in deaf ears, because the three friends were sound asleep, leaving alone Conan to stare at them, with a blank expression, and a dry, forced laugh to bubble up his throat.

"Now that they went silent," Haibara's voice came from his other side. "Why don't _you _go try to sleep? You are noisy."

Conan said nothing, just sat there in silence, watching the scientist whose back was facing him. For a moment or so, he simply stared at her, until his conflicted blue eyes fixed on his lap. "Say, Haibara-san," he voiced softly. "There's... There's something I want to ask you."

Sensing the serious tone behind the boy's words, the girl turned slightly over her back, just enough so he could look at him into his eyes. She simply waited, gazing at him with a slightly confused expression when he paused, as if hesitating.

He then took a deep breath, and opened his mouth.

"... Is there something on my face?"

"... Huh?"

"I'm asking you if there is something on my face."

"Yeah, I know. My sense of hearing is definitely not damaged," Haibara replied, with a weirded out expression drawn on her face. "I'm not so certain about your reasoning ability, however."

"So, your answer is?"

"No, Kudo-kun. There is absolutely _nothing _on your face."

Haibara could only stare. Conan was stroking his chin, mumbling something strangely like '_that's weird'_, deep in thought, just like he would act when trying to crack a difficult mystery.

Had that been the case, the young scientist would have simply given him an amused smirk before shrugging it off as normal detective behavior. As things were now, however, she couldn't help but genuinely worry about his mental state.

... _Did he finally lose it?_

Not that he had much time to ponder it ─ whatever _that _was. A scream teared apart the silence that had settled in, startling them both badly and waking up the rest of his friends at the instant.

The next moment, Conan had opened the door and turned on the lights.

Furumura lied on the couch, a knife stabbed through his blanket and, ultimately, his chest.

* * *

At this point, Inspector Megure couldn't really be surprised anymore about the constant presence of the young boy in almost every murder case he was called to.

So, when he saw Conan and the rest of his friends standing beside the body, he simply sighed and began to do his work without any further word.

The way the victim had died remained a mystery, though. And with that he did not mean the method, because anybody could see that he had been stabbed by a knife from a mile away. The problem stemmed from the fact that the room was far too messy for the killer to do their deed without making any sound.

When he had been told that Hojima had been sleeping right beside the victim, he had believed he had figured out the true identity of the killer.

But then, all lights in the room had suddenly gone off.

"Hey, stop that!" right after hearing Negami's voice, the lights came back up and they saw said man, hand on the light switch, looking down at Conan with a stern expression. "You shouldn't be disturbing the police like that."

"Yes," obediently, the boy nodded.

Seeing that the child would not cause any more trouble, Megure simply shrugged it off and continued doing his stuff, shrugging it off as a normal case of childish mischief. Takagi was about to do the same thing, but because he was a second slower than the inspector, he got hear what Conan said next:

"By the way, you're amazing, sir!"

"Eh?" Negami was confused.

Takagi swore that he saw something akin to a very arrogant, knowing smirk crossing Conan's young features, and Negami's shoulders tensing, slightly, at the sight of it.

"Because you got here very quickly, despite the darkness," the boy then grinned. "Just like a cat!"

With confusion evident on his eyes, Takagi watched as the kid left to join his group of friends, leaving Negami behind, frozen as a statue and pale like snow.

Then blinked, utterly dumbfounded.

Not that he had much time to ponder over it, because the victim's camera had been found and, with that, a video ─ they believed the record button had been pressed by accident ─ where nothing could be seen, but his screams could be clearly heard. There was no sound apart for that.

Because of that, nobody noticed the young sleuth wandering across the room, taking in every single detail of the place, until they eyes fell on something in particular. There was tape stuck all over the house, he noticed before heading into the bathroom, phone in hand.

_Looks like Professor Agasa is going to solve another case yet again, _he decided, not wasting another minute and calling the old professor.

They didn't seem to notice Haibara either, who was looking down the street through the window, leaning against the wall in hopes of not being seen, eyes not straying away from the black car parked outside.

"At any rate," Megure spoke at some point after the body had been taken away. "Taking into consideration the information we have now, the culprit must been the one sleeping on the sofa next to Furumura-san, Hojima-san. It could be no one else but you."

"Hey, wait..." he tried to argue.

"That's correct."

After hearing the different, yet familiar, voice, the inspector and Takagi turned around to see Agasa standing on the doorway, a grin on his face, who claimed he had received a call from Conan requesting to pick them up, and that he had briefly told him about what had happened.

Which, while it wasn't technically a lie, wasn't the entire truth. Conan had told him to come pick them up, yes, but he also told him _all _details of the case and how to solve it.

Any other day, he would have a bit more reluctant to play the role of the detective...

"No matter how you consider it, there's only one possible solution. Hojima-san must have been the perpetrator."

Yet the young boy had also told him about the weird car parked outside, so he figured it would be best if he just played along.

"Still, there's something that bothers me. You know, the third button on Furumura-san's shirt was torn off in the struggle. You haven't found it yet, right?"

Conan was a clever young child and he knew what he was doing, he convinced himself. Agasa could only trust him.

"I suppose we haven't..." Megure pondered.

"It's possible that it dropped into this messy room somewhere... or that the culprit is holding it."

As a result, Hojima was taken out the scene with the excuse of taking him to the station for a body check. Conan suggested to come along, and the entire group of friends had been allowed to.

But there was something he still needed to do before he walked out the building.

"Detective Takagi," the man looked down to see the little boy, who had momentarily separated from the group, smiling up at him, hands holding each other behind his back.

"Ah, Conan-kun?" he blinked in return. "Is something wrong?"

"There's a pair of bad people parked outside..

It took a moment more than necessary for Takagi to process what it had just been said. "Bad people?"

"Yeah!" there was a slight frown. "I saw them drinking from some bottle, I think it was wine... It's bad to drink and drive, isn't it?"

"... I-I suppose you're right."

For a moment or so, the police detective just stared down at the boy, as if wondering what else did he want. The kid, in turn, simply seemed to raise an eyebrow at him, annoyed for some reason.

"Then?" the child's voice was plain, so different from the innocent tone he had used before.

"Then... what?"

"Aren't you going to check on them?"

"A-Ah... Ah! You're right."

_Of course I am._

* * *

It was even later into the night as they waited inside the yellow Beetle for Agasa to return. Haibara was silently looking out the window while Conan talked with the old professor over the phone and the rest of their friends dozed on the back seat, unable to stay up until that late.

Not that Conan was doing much better, she noted, considering he had just bitten another yawn down.

_Well, _Haibara simply held back an amused chuckle. _I guess I ended up developing a resistance for staying overnight so many times..._

The ghost of the smile from before vanished within seconds, however, when a car passed by them. As if in slow motion, Haibara felt every single one of her hairs standing up on an end, and saw the light of a cigarette.

Before she could even say anything, a hand covered her mouth. It didn't really take a genius to realize belonged to the boy sitting beside her.

"It's fine," only when the car went around a corner did he release her. "That cigarette. It's the same as when they didn't sound the horn at the stop light."

Just like then, they had avoided to smoke so they could pass unnoticed. If they were openly doing that, they might have lost track of them, he explained. As for the reason, Takagi had been practically bullied into administering them a blood-alcohol test and questioning.

"Could they have been...?" her voice came in a whisper.

He gave her a long look, before shrugging. "There's nothing we can be certain of," he simply stated. "Except that they aren't just fans of my mother."

His expression went serious after that.

"We can't be sure if you were their target either," he stated. "For all we know, they could've figured out that I'm Singani's younger brother and that I'm trying investigate them."

Haibara didn't like that one bit. And it must have been showed on her face, because he simply took a look at her and forced a smile.

"Don't worry, it should be okay," he tried to be as convincing as possible. "If they had the slightless suspicion you're Sherry, you wouldn't still be here, right?"

Too bad he didn't seem to believe his own words himself.

* * *

A/N:

SapphireRuby24: As it is now, not even I know yet. Only time will tell, I guess XD

Aria: Sorry, no telling! XD

Yuni: I'm not sure about that, since it's about Shinichi and KID and it should have happened way before the Black Star Heist, but I will see.

ajjr12: Sorry, but I don't understand who you're talking about. Even so, all police detectives are probably be briefly mentioned in the story, unless it is, I don't know, Takagi.

Asahina Chihaya: Don't worry, I have already something planned for Shinichi discovering that ─ sort of XD. Thanks for sharing!


	47. A Shocking Revelation

**File Forty-Seven: A Shocking Revelation**

"Here, hold on," Haibara stared back at the boy's stretched hand, who was gently smiling at her, with a blank look of her own. "You must be a bit disoriented, right?"

The smile faltered, however, when she stood up on her own. "Don't patronize me," she said, in a severe whisper, making her point across perfectly well. "Just move out of the way."

"Yes."

Conan could only roll his eyes at the sight of the stubborn scientist stumbling out the car, clearly dazed by the fever that was attacking her body. _These will the longest two hours in my life, _he decided.

The only reason they were there was to waste time, since the clinic where they wanted to take Haibara to was completely filled, so they only managed to get an appointment in two hours.

He saw Haibara suddenly freezing on her spot, a terrified expression taking hold on her face, eyes fixed on the Porsche parked right in front of them. Conan didn't need to ask to know what was going through her mind.

"That one is green," the boy pointed out. "Gin's car is black, isn't it? Besides, even if it _was _black, I would be able to tell it apart, so don't worry."

Haibara seemed to be genuinely confused at that. Amused by her unusual puzzlement, Conan's hands slid inside his pockets and a cocky grin drew itself on his face.

"Shinjuku 54, Mi 43-68," he stated easily, causing Haibara to blink some more. "That's Gin license plate. Which doesn't resemble this car's at all, does it?"

"... You memorized Gin's license plate."

"It's kind of an habit I've always have. Everytime I pass by a car, I always take a look of its license plate. Only those that are relevant stuck with me, though," the boy shrugged at her, before his smirk turned into a fond smile. "My brother said that, when I was younger, we used to play a lot with numbers and wordplay. I guess I got into this habit from looking for hidden meanings into license plates back then."

"That's... unusual," she conceded him. "Unusual, yet useful, I suppose."

"Not to mention," he continued, as if she hadn't said anything. "There are three Porsches parked near each other. It's highly likely that a group of Porsche enthusiasts are hanging around at this department store."

Just as he was saying that, another porsche, Porsche 911 this time, parked right in the middle of the rest of its kind. Three people, two men and a woman, stepped out of it, leaving another of their friends sleeping inside, definitely drunk.

Conan watched, with mild interest, as the woman went to the blue Porsche, claiming that she had left her wallet inside. One of the men did the same thing.

"Hey, Ojisan," so the child approached the one that was left alone. "Do the four Porsches parked here belong to you?"

It turned out that every single one of the cars belonged to one person in the group. The Porsche 356A belonged to Hotei Eiji, the Porsche Boxster to Taiyama Kaoru, the Porsche 928 belonged to Bamba Yukiya ─ the person passed out from drinking too much ─ and, finally, the white Porsche 911 was Kureko Yoshihito's, the man Conan was currently talking to. Apparently, they had all gone together to play some golf and left the last three cars there in the meantime.

The group left not long after that.

"Well, Ai-kun," Agasa turned to the girl, who seemed to have a staring contest with the floor. "We should get going too."

"I'll pass," she didn't even hesitate. "I'm not feeling well."

Without any further word, the girl climbed up into the Beetle, closing the door behind her. Agasa seemed to want to get her to come with them, but Conan simply gave him a stern look and shook his head, clearly stating that it was best to let her be.

"Having been followed by those people whose intentions we don't know, it's natural to be apprehensive."

"Then, you mean..." Agasa went pale. "The people trailing were with those guys in black?"

Conan frowned, arms crossing in front of his chest as he leaned against the old yellow car. "It's possible, but not definitive," he said. "While we don't know if their mark was actually Haibara-san, there isn't much we can do."

* * *

Frankly speaking, Conan wondered if the very famous Tarugatei egg porridge was actually worth it. Or, at least, worth waiting in a long, _long _line filled with dozen of people eagerly wanting to try it.

_I mean... It's just porridge, right?_

But Agasa had said that it might make Haibara feel a bit better, and they really had anything else to do, so Conan could only shrug. It couldn't be _that _bad, could it...?

"Hey, Cool Kid!"

Apparently, yeah, it _could_. Since behind him was none other than that particularly suspicious English teacher, Jodie Saintemillion. So, because of the shock, he didn't give out any other reaction but a surprised blink of his eyes.

"Jodie-sensei," Agasa smiled. "Oh, Ran-kun and Sonoko-kun, too!"

"Hello!" they both greeted.

Conan had still not recovered from his shock. "But why?" yet managed a barely coherent sentence.

Which got its answer right away, in the form of a very annoyed Sonoko, who leaned over him, a scowl prominent on her face. "We're here to try the Tarugatei egg porridge," she stated. "Problem?"

"Several, actually," like magic, his stunned expression vanished at the sight of the older girl, leaving a blank, plain stare on its place. "Not that I have the time to explain every single one of them, though. Especially, to _you._"

_And that's a lot to say, considering it will take us a least two hours to get to the restaurant with this amount of people._

Before Sonoko could even answer, Ran's hands pressed against her best friend's shoulders, fingers gripping into them tightly as she gently pushed her aside. "We've heard how good this place is," she said, hoping for the argument to settle down. "So we invited Jodie-sensei along."

"I see..." Agasa nodded.

"Speaking of which, what are you doing here, Conan-kun?" the boy hoped nobody had noticed the violent twitch his body gave. "You said you went to visit Ai-chan today because she had a cold."

"... Ai-chan?" he definitely didn't like the way Jodie's eyes fixed on him, awaiting an answer.

"See, Ai-kun was actually-" Agasa, however, remained unaware of the child's discomfort.

"-going to come here!" so he, naturally, didn't expect him to complete for him. "We were thinking about bringing her here to try the egg porridge, but since it was impossible with her bad cold we didn't invite her."

The professor simply went along with his poorly fabricated lie, letting out a forced laugh that hardly convinced the teacher ─ Conan was painfully aware of the way Jodie's gaze narrowed.

He was too busy with the English teacher, however, that he didn't even notice the slight confused frown on Ran's face.

Eventually, and with a lot of struggling from the kid's part, the conversation drifted to more friendly waters ─ and that was saying, away from _Haibara ─ _causing Conan to mentally sigh in relief.

_This should be enough for now. Ran-neechan and the others are probably going to eat inside, so if we just ask for take out we can leave and nobody will..._

"Boy, can I bother you for a moment?"

It looked like destiny itself was feeling like messing with him today.

Because he found face to face with a camera as soon as he turned around. "Boy, have you come to this department store especially for the egg porridge too?" the reporter kneeling in front of him asked, with a gentle smile, that did not waver even if he just stared blankly at her, mind running and searching for a way out.

She probably was mistaking his attitude with shyness. Which he probably would have felt if he wasn't in _that _situation.

"A-Ah, yeah," he decided to play along. "But since so people are in line, I might give up."

"Oh, is that so?"

Offering him another gentle smile, the reporter stood up and left right away ─ probably noticing his uncomfortability ─ taking that cursed camera with her. As soon as she was far from them, he turned to Ran and her companions. "That's it," he stated, not letting his fear show. "We're going to go."

"Eh?" everyone, including Agasa, blinked.

"Come on," he tugged from the old man's jacket. "Let's go, Professor."

"Ah, wait-!" Ran tried to stop them.

But no avail, Conan dragged poor Agasa with him, running so fast that the pair was gone the next second. So, she could do nothing but to wonder.

Meanwhile, the child did not stop, nor did he release the older man following after him. Not bothering to answer the panicked questions that the professor managed, he just focused in hurrying out and get out of there before they could be seen by people he definitely didn't want to see them.

The distinctive yellow Beetle was coming into view. _Just a little bit longer..._

Having hearing steps, Haibara opened her eyes and, slowly, sat down. Dimly, she realized it was the guy from before opening the door of his own car.

But Conan didn't even notice, just kept on moving. Just ten feet left...

Her eyes fell on the boy and the old man that tagged around, and froze. For some reason, he felt her heart beating faster and panic to pump through her blood.

She focused her gaze on Conan.

_Why?_

Five feet away.

_Why does he have such a scared look on his face?_

Three feet.

Agasa was calling him, but he paid no mind. The car was so close.

Just two feet more to go and...

"Aaah!"

Or maybe not.

"Ba-Banba-san!"

_No, _Conan growled on his mind as he, without even stopping, steered away from his direction towards the white Porsche, where Yoshihito was standing, frozen by shock beside the door he had just opened. _Not now!_

Yet it seemed like, yeah, it _did _happen now. "He's been strangled," the child noted, while crawling into the driver seat. Then, with a long sigh, he stepped out and stared back at Yoshihito, who was looking at him in turn, unblinking, probably surprised about how easy he was dealing with seeing a dead body.

If he only knew...

"Well?" Conan's eyebrow raised, feeling more than a bit annoyed at the moment.

Yoshihito just blinked.

"Are you going to wait for your friend's body to decompose or are you actually going to call the police?"

With a shaky nod, the man clumsily gathered his phone from his pockets before rushing out, far from the crime site. Agasa, in turn, just walked closer to the child, whose eyes hadn't left the body in front of him.

"Hey, Conan," the old man tried. "You could've been a bit less harsh. That man just-"

"We don't have time for niceties, Professor," Agasa actually flinched at the hard look he received. "I'll stay here. You get in the car and get Haibara-san out of here."

"E-Eh? Why?"

"My image just got broadcasted by a television camera. Those guys who were following definitely saw my face the other day... If they are really with those men in black..."

As in a vain attempt to reassure the young boy, the professor managed an awkward smile. "Don't worry, that was just a lunch-time talk TV show..."

One look from the child and he knew Conan was aware. The possibility of one of them seeing it was still extremely high.

No other word was spoken, and Conan took it as enough proof that he had made his point across. So his gaze fell on the yellow car parked not far from where they were, more specifically, in the little girl sitting on the back seat. Sweat was soaking her hair, plastering it against her forehead, and her mouth was slightly open, so that it was obvious that she was breathing raggedly. The boy's eyes narrowed at the sight.

"If you look around the city, you should be able to find a hospital that's open on a Sunday. Haibara-san is not well. She's just been acting strong for us until now."

"Then, what about you?"

"Don't worry," he forced a reassuring smile to the professor. "Ran-neechan must still be around, so I'll go back home with her once everything is over. I'll think of something."

* * *

"What do you mean you can't leave?" the boy felt a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead, fingers holding tightly the phone pressed against his ear.

"That's what they said," he could hear the worry in the professor's voice. "Until they catch the criminal, we're stuck."

He should have expected that outcome, the young boy reminded himself, rubbing a hand all over his face. "We have no choice," but managed to remain calm, despite it all. "Find an empty space and wait there quietly."

There was a pause. The professor was clearly hesitating.

"But what if those guys show up?"

Now, it was turn for the little boy to stop, picturing in his mind, without meaning to, the multiple scenarios where the men in black found Haibara. And all that followed.

He shook his head when he realized he was practically imagining a bloodshed. Which he wouldn't allow to happen.

"Don't worry," he forced a smirk. "I'll solve this quickly."

"Wait, Conan-"

"Don't make any moves until then."

Without waiting for any kind of answer, the young detective hang up on him and rushed back to the crime scene, determined to solve this case in record time. By the time he got there, Inspector Megure and Takagi were just beginning to interrogate the three suspects.

So, he took a deep breath.

_Let's do this, _then stepped up.

When Megure saw him, he didn't even try to look surprised. At this point it would be weird if he did, Conan figured.

Like that, the child relied to them everything he had seen upon their arrival.

"Well, let's get the questioning out of the way first," Megure said after he had finished, before turning to the three friends. "Please give us your name, the nature of your relationship with the victim, the order in which you left your car and exactly which one of these vehicles belong to you."

"I was the first to get out," Yoshihito explained. "I became acquainted with Banba-san at the Porsche Debut Exhibition. My car is-"

"This one, right?"

All heads snapped at the sound of the young voice and everyone gasped, shocked to see the young boy already inside the car, not minding the dead body that sat right beside him. His innocent blue eyes blinked behind his glasses, completely disregarding the box he held in his hand ─ thankfully, he was careful enough to use a napkin.

"Takagi," the inspector sighed, deeply, massaging his forehead in anticipation for the incoming headache. "Just take Conan-kun out of here."

Takagi seemed to hesitate for some unknown reason.

"Takagi!" naturally, his superior grew impatient. "What are you waiting for?!"

"W-Well," he stuttered, with an nervous smile on his face. "I was actually wondering something..."

"What?" Megure's eyebrow raised.

"Wouldn't it be best if we just let Conan-kun be?" he tried not to flinch at the outraged look he was receiving. "Just this one time."

"... What in Earth are you talking about?!" he seemed to be even more frustrated than before, if possible. "How can you possibly believe that it's okay to let a _child _walk around in a crime scene as if it was his playground?!"

"It's just that...!" Takagi tried, then paused to let out a long sigh, before continuing, a lot calmer this time. "It's just that... That kid..." his eyes focused on the little boy, who was looking at the music box in his hands with a thoughtful look. "I couldn't help but notice... Whenever Conan-kun points out something, it usually turns out to be crucial to the case."

Megure blinked, confusedly. "Is that true?" then turned to glance at the child, who just grinned amicably at Toshihito, before heading for the second car, Hotei Eiji's, without even giving a single side look at any of the officers surrounding the area.

_I can't believe I'm allowing this, _Megure lamented, as he decided to continue his work.

"Oh, do you like fishing?" asked Conan, childishly, while looking through a mallet filled with all that stuff and the fishing pole beside it.

"Yeah, I like to fish as well."

His eyes then fell on the automatic reel. Before he could do or say anything about it, however, a gloved hand came from over his shoulder and held it in front of its belonger's eyes. "This could be used to remotely strangle someone," Megure pointed out.

"Don't say that!" Hotei argued. "It was in the bag, wasn't it? I haven't touched it in the time since Kureko-san called me down here."

_He does have a point there, _Conan hummed, before stepping out and heading towards Taiyama's car. "Could a woman like me actually have the strength necessary to strangle a man?" she pointed out to the inspector, as the child simply crawled inside.

Inside her car, there was one single thing. In the passenger seat, there was a Porsche model car, which supposedly was a gift for her nephew.

"This couldn't strangle someone to death, could it?"

_No, definitely not, _Conan scowled slightly while inspecting the box, realizing that none of the items in either of the cars could actually be used as a murder weapon. Then, his eyes fell on something written on it. _Those batteries... Aren't those the ones that last only a little over ten minutes? _

That actually explained...

Well, it actually didn't explain anything.

Conan felt lost. Lost and terribly frustrated.

It wasn't long until they decided to head to the security room, since Conan pointed out that there was a security camera there. Hoping that everything would make a bit more of sense, the boy was about to follow them suit.

But a familiar yellow car stopped right next to him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" in no time, he had moved closer to the diver's window and hissed at the professor. "I think I told you not to move!"

"But..." Agasa glanced over his shoulder, briefly, concern evident on his eyes. "Ai-kun's condition..."

It didn't take Conan long to understand the source of the worry. Deathly pale face and angry red cheeks, along with an uncomfortable amount of sweat and difficulty in breathing, all that was enough for the child to comprehend.

"We need to hurry and get her to a doctor," the old man continued.

And Conan sighed, loudly. He didn't like this situation one bit.

"I'll ask Detective Takagi to get his patrol car and get you out of here quietly... But those guys might ambush you outside..." he passed his hand through his hair. _Damn it..._

_I really, really need to solve this case right now._

"_Hi!" _the English whisper next to his ear made his blood run cold. "Who are 'those guys'?"

Slowly, the boy turned around and paled, considerably, at the sight of Jodie standing right behind him, Ran and Sonoko beside her, unaware of the internal packing the child was going through.

"Conan-kun," Ran said. "You really are involved in this case, aren't you?"

He didn't find his voice to answer, internally wondering how they got there, before answering his own question. _Detective Takagi must have let them though after been told that they were going to fetch me._

"Huh?" his eyes went wide with fear when he saw Ran peeking inside the car through the window. "Ai-chan is here, too."

And Jodie was watching, as well.

"Sonoko-neechan," he forced the conversation topic to shift. "Shouldn't you be bragging about your amazing deduction abilities right now?"

Sonoko blinked.

"They are in their way to security room to see the footage. Let's go!" then, in a obvious, poorly thought attempt to get the teacher's attention away from the scientist, he started to run, dragging Jodie along from the hem of her sleeve. "Sensei, you too!"

As they headed towards the security room and away from the yellow Beetle, Ran's eyes did not leave the young boy.

_Conan-kun, what's wrong? _she frowned. _Why are you acting so strange?_

If she didn't know any better, she would have said that it looked like he didn't trust Jodie. But that just _couldn't _be...

Could it?

* * *

There was nothing that relevant in that video that could help Conan solve the case. As he had seen them do before, Hotei, then Taiyama went to their respective cars to collect their wallets before leaving with Yoshihito, who merely stood right in front of the car, talking with Conan and Agasa.

_None of them did anything suspicious when they left the car, _the child studied every single of the suspects, a few steps behind the group. _There weren't any suspicious movements._

He watched one of the officers bringing a few photographs that had just been revealed and leave them on top of a small table. Silently, the young boy moved closer and, without gathering any attention, took a look of them.

There were three pictures. The inside of each of the suspects' cars.

_I don't get it, _Conan groaned. _How did the culprit strangle Banba-san and how did they retrieve the weapon?_

His teeth gritted. _Damn it, I have to hurry, _his eyes focused on Jodie, who seemed to be strangely in deep thought. _To get Haibara-san out of here, I have to solve this now!_

_... The problem is... How?_

Quite honestly, he wasn't finding the answer he was looking for, and he didn't think he was going to get it anytime soon.

And time was ticking by so quickly.

He _needed _the answer. He needed it _now. _

Slowly slipping away from the room, and successfully managing to stand outside unnoticed, he slid a hand inside his pocket.

_I have no choice, _he decided to swallow his pride.

Next thing he knew, he was anxiously waiting for the dialing tone against his ear to end.

"Conan?" the voice on the other side of the phone sounded confused and concerned all the same. Probably because it so was rare for the child to call, instead of the other way around.

"I need your help," he said, a bit too quickly as he, without realizing it, paced back and forth in the hallway. "There is this case that simply doesn't make any sense, and the police investigation is getting nowhere. I can't figure it out and I-"

"Conan," Shinichi's stern tone actually caused the little boy to come to a halt. "Conan, calm down. This isn't like you. You are _rambling._"

He let out a long, tired, sigh, pressing a hand against his forehead. "I can't, Onii-chan," he admitted, with an humorless chuckle. "I _can't. _I have to solve it, right _now._"

Shinichi paused at that, seriously worried about _what _was making this child to be _that _distressed, but pushed those thoughts to the back of his head. "If you rush, you aren't going to accomplish anything," the older brother pointed out, figuring that questions could wait. "Take a moment. And _breathe._"

For a couple of seconds, Shinichi didn't say anything else, just listened to Conan's shaky breathing gradually slowing down, to the point if became as close to normal as possible.

"Now, Conan," he said, gently. "Tell me what happened."

"... Murder."

"No surprises there. If you could, please, elaborate further..."

Rubbing a hand against his face, completely exhausted, Conan began to tell his brother everything that had happened. About the body, the fact he was strangulated, everything about the suspects. By the time he had finished, Shinichi was humming, deep in thought.

"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Shinichi asked him.

"Oh, I don't know," Conan's eyebrow twitched, irritably. "Maybe the fact that this case doesn't make a bit of sense?"

"Ah, but it does."

Conan merely blinked at that.

"You need to focus. Push away any other thoughts that are pressuring you at this moment," his brother continued. "I'm sure you have single-handedly solved several cases that were much more difficult that this one."

"Even if you say that..." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "None of them could've strangled Banba-san... He was _alive _when everyone left, and Yoshihito-san locked the doors after leaving. He was dead when he returned."

"Then he was killed in-between, right?" he could basically _see _Shinichi's smirk. "The thing is, how did the murderer kill him without being present?"

His fingers went to his chin. "A mechanism?" he was unsure. "Something strong enough to strangle a grown man with a wire... A fishing line?"

"Alright. Now picture yourself inside a car, is there anything you can use to make it happen?"

"... Something that...? A power window?" his eyes widened dramatically, realization hitting him hard. "Ah! That is it!"

"You're welcome," came the amused chuckle from the other side of the line.

Conan rolled his eyes. "Thank you," he let out in an annoyed mumble.

"Now, run along. Solve the mystery, little Holmes. We will talk later."

Without saying anything else, the child ended the call and quickly went back into the room, where Sonoko was still humming, seemingly thinking hard but unable to figure the case out. Taking advantage of that, Conan suggested to go back to the car in hopes of finding out something. As they did, he let his childish grin vanish and his sharp gaze fall on Jodie.

Megure, noticing the entire exchange, just blinked.

Not that Conan realized he was being watched, far too busy with the case to look at the inspector giving him weird looks. So, upon arriving at the scene, he went directly to Sonoko, who just stared back at the cars with a clueless look on her face.

"You know," Conan raised an eyebrow. "The truth isn't going to magically dawn on you if you just _stare _at Yoshihiko's car."

"Then," she crossed her arms in front of her chest, definitely annoyed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, I don't know. Look for clues inside?" he teased her. "I'm not Deduction Queen Sonoko, I'm just an ordinary grade schooler."

"Not ordinary," she mumbled, passing by Megure as she stomped that way. "An exasperating arrogant little jerk with a terrible set of genes..."

Inspector Megure was confused. _Genes? _but didn't let it show. He just watched as the kid skipped ahead and opened the door of Taiyama's car for the teenage girl, a condescending smile etched on his face.

"So?" the kid asked, having climbed right after her, sitting on the seat next to the girl. "Does anything come to mind?"

"W-Well..." she tried. "Aside from it being so expensive... There doesn't seem to be anything strange about it."

Conan seemed to hum, then look some more. "Ah, look, Sonoko-neechan!" he exclaimed. "A power window."

"Ah, is that so?" she shrugged, not even giving it a second thought.

"Now that I think of it, none of the other two had one of them, did they?"

"Yeah. This car's model is newer, after all."

Then, silence.

Conan stared, blankly, at the teenage girl, who seemed to look through the trunk, looking for any clue that the child knew was _not _there. So, realizing that the young heiress was not understanding the clues he was giving her, his childish look dulled into plain annoyance.

"Did you solve it yet?"

"Of course not," she huffed. "But it's a matter of time until I do so shut it, kid."

He _didn't _have that much time. And Sonoko didn't seem to be close to understand it either.

_If I had more time, I would be able to get her to solve it, but..._

"Seriously," the kid rolled his eyes. "How is that you don't get it yet?"

"Listen, brat," her eyes narrowed, irritated. "Unless you magically _know _who the murderer is-"

"Oh, I know who the murderer is."

At that sentence, every single gaze was fixed into him, and he struggled not to flinch at the sudden attention. _There is no helping it, _he paused for a moment to take a deep breath. _This investigation needs to end right now._

His innocent blue eyes adopted a piercing glint as they fell in one of the suspects.

Megure couldn't take his eyes away from the young boy, whose finger rose in the air, pointing at someone through the windshield.

"The criminal is you," his lips curved into a knowing smirk. "Taiyama Kaoru-san."

At the sight of it, the inspector was rendered speechless, as a result of his mouth suddenly going dry. Those eyes... That look... The way he talked and _that _smirk that he had only seen in the faces of two separate people...

"Detective Takagi," he turned to the man, who flinched in turn. "Could you please get into the driver's seat of the Porsche 911, next to Banba-san's body?"

_... Kudo-kun... Yusaku-kun..._

"Hey, Conan-kun..." Ran tried to get him to stop.

After all, Takagi seemed to be terribly distressed and hesitant at the request. Holding his hands up, he was about to decline, until another voice joined in.

"Just do as he says, Takagi."

Nobody, not even Conan, understood why Megure had that solemn look on his eyes, but no one questioned it. The child simply stared at him for a long while, as if analyzing him, then continued fished out the wire from his pocket, which he had gotten a hold of not long ago.

Everyone watched, confused, as he opened the door to the car Takagi had just sit on.

"You might want to place your hands between your neck and this," Conan pointed out, as he put the line around his neck.

"Eh? Why?"

The kid took his time to wrap it around the head-rest, before giving the officer a plain look. "Because nobody wants to be charged with your murder, right?"

Takagi went pale at that, but Conan paid no mind, as he stepped out the car, closed the door, and walked towards the blue Porsche with the wire on his hands, passing it under the red one, that was parked between the other two.

Then all he had to do was to put the line in the gap on top on the window, climb back inside and get back in the car, lowering the power window before tying the ends around the gear level.

"All it's set now," he said, with a mischievous smile.

"Eh? How so?" Sonoko's glare came back. "Hey, squirt. You better not be playing around. Listen, you need a lot of strength to get someone from behind, do you really believe Taiyama-san has-?"

Not breaking eye contact with her, he pressed the switch again. The window went up.

And Takagi started giving out panicked yelps, until he lowered it again.

"If you use this model car, and tie the line to the real wheels of the car, you can retrieve the wire," he finished his explanation. "The battery only lasts for ten minutes, so there was no noise when the body was found."

Being cornered by the young boy's perfect deduction, Taiyama had no other choice but to confess she had killed Banba, because he had ran against a yellow Ferrari, killing his brother in the process, and he didn't seem to be bothered by it.

As soon as she was taken away, Conan was gone, hiding against the car as he pressed his phone against his ear. Agasa wasn't replying.

"Ah, Ran," then, he heard Sonoko say to Ran. "Where's Jodie-sensei?"

"She left. She suddenly remembered something urgent."

_No... No, no, no, she didn't...!_

Heart pounding heavily against his chest, Conan took off running towards the yellow Beetle. His face pressed against the cold window, feeling dread washing all over him upon the realization that it was completely empty, the professor's phone lying in the passenger seat, completely forgotten.

_Could it be... Could it be?!_

Pushing all those negative thoughts away, he finally decided to call Agasa's home. With a bated breath, he waited for anyone to reply.

"Oh, I was waiting," he could have sighed in relief at the sound of the old man's voice.

"What do you mean with 'waiting'?!" he settled for an angrier response, however. "Weren't _you _supposed to wait?!"

"Don't be so loud. Araide-sensei is here with us."

Conan frowned at that.

"He's looking after Ai-kun now. Even though you said he wasn't in, he was when I called," Agasa explained to him. "When the case was preventing us from getting out, he said 'Professor, since you know the police, if you claim the girl you had with you suddenly fell ill they should let you leave.'"

Resting his back against the yellow car, Conan willed his heart to slow down, even as the professor told him that Jodie was with them, and that she had taken them home. _If they are still alive, _he tried to convince himself. _They should be okay. Maybe she hasn't figured Haibara-san's identity yet._

"I see," he tried to sound as convincing as possible. "I'll be there in a bit. Keep an eye for Haibara-san until now."

A long, exhausted sigh was released once the call had ended. _This isn't good, _he decided, rubbing his temples, mind running to figure out a solution for the problem in hand.

"Conan-kun?"

At the male, gruff voice, Conan instantly looked up, completely confused. A big man he knew very well met his eyes, but it did not help in explaining what was happening. "Inspector Megure?" he blinked twice. "I thought you left already."

"I told Takagi to wait for me for a moment," he let out a friendly smile as he kneeled down in front of him. "There was something I wanted to ask you."

Still unable to understand, Conan said nothing, just staring back at the inspector, whose eyes narrowed lightly, smile vanishing into thin air into a focused frown.

"Are you... Could you be, by any chance... Conan-kun?"

"Inspector, I'm pretty sure I'm still myself."

"No, no, no. I don't mean Edogawa Conan-kun."

Something passed by his eyes, and Conan didn't think he would ever understand what it was.

"Are you Yusaku-kun's youngest son, Kudo Conan-kun?"

Eyes widening behind glasses said everything that the inspector wanted to know, so he mirrored his expression. "No," through the shock, Conan still noticed the way the inspector seemed to grow pale, even paler than he was, his entire body shaking. "No, that can't be..."

"... Why is that?" asked Conan, in a small voice, nearly afraid of what the stunned, almost terrified, expression the man in front of him was wearing actually meant. "Why can't I be Kudo Conan, Inspector Megure?"

It didn't sit well with the boy the way he seemed to let out a shaky, quivering sigh. His eyes were still wide and shocked.

Almost as if he was seeing a ghost.

Before long, Megure managed one single, blood-chilling sentence:

"Because you were supposed to be dead, Conan-kun."

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Ah, Yamamura! Sorry, my bad. I don't think he's going to appear much, since he isn't particularly one of my favourite characters. About the OVA you mentioned, that's a nice idea. She might mention it sometime.

GhostDespair: I don't think I'm going to do all movies, since they are a lot of them. I may do one or two more, I think, but I haven't completely decided on anything yet.

Asahina Chihaya: That sounds better now, thank you!


	48. What an Angel Left Behind

**File Forty-Eight: What an Angel Left Behind**

Dead.

He was dead.

Kudo Conan had died more than four years ago.

_He _had died more than four years ago.

Or, at least, that was that Inspector Megure had told him before leaving, still shaken by the revelation, swearing that he wouldn't speak a soul about what had happened. At least, until he got a word with Yusaku.

Because Edogawa Conan was supposed to be just the son of Yusaku's distant relative. A friend that had grown alongside him, enjoying the same mystery novels than him, until they completely lost contact through time. Without knowing it, both had children and named them _Conan, _after the author they had cherished so much throughout their childhood.

So when Edogawa Conan lost his parents in a car accident, and Kudo Yusaku lost his young son, the child had been taken into their family.

Except that couldn't be possible... It didn't make any sense. At _all._

_He _was Edogawa Conan _and_ Kudo Conan all the same.

"_In our eyes, Yusaku-kun and Yukiko-san looked devastated when you, well... died," _Megure had explained when Conan had voiced his thoughts, rather loudly so. "_So when Kudo-kun told us that story when you moved in with him, nobody questioned it. It wouldn't be fair not to believe a family that had just lost a young child, cruel even."_

_Cruel, _Conan let out a weak, fake laugh, staring down at the phone on his hands. _Who is being cruel now?_

There, sitting in the handrail of the second floor, feet hanging on the air, Conan's eyes wandered outside the window, where the night was quiet and the dull silver light of the moon chased the darkness away. He decided he hated this. _All _this.

To be kept in the dark. To feel like there was something _big, _that clearly involved him, but be rendered unable to get clear answers. To be forced to look for them on his own, in hopes to shed some light in all those mysteries that surrounded his own past.

With a defeated sigh, he put his phone back on his pocket.

He didn't think he would be able to bear with getting lied to again.

"PROFESSOR!"

The yell had broken through the silent night, and actually managed to scare Conan out of his mind. After recovering his balance and making sure he wouldn't slip and fall into the first floor, the bespectacled boy spun around, wondering what was going on.

When he saw the scene that was happening behind him, he was unable to suppress the laugh that bubbled up from inside him. Haibara, who had just been standing there, frozen in shock, in front of the professor where he was draped all over his computer, red liquid dripping and splattering in the floor, jumped and turned.

Her stunned expression did not vanish, even as she looked back at the boy that was still smiling, thoroughly amused.

"I'm surprised such a genius scientist of your caliber doesn't know the difference between blood and _tomato juice,_" he teased before he turned around again, eyes fixed on the street outside Agasa's home. "Why he still drinks that even if he keeps falling asleep on his computer and spilling _everywhere, _is beyond me, however."

"Aside from that," the confusion that Haibara was feeling was definitely far too strong to feel annoyed at his previous comment. "Why are you-?"

The smile faltered. "I had an ominous premonition, so I decided to check on you," he stated. "I said I was coming over to nurse you," then, the boy shrugged. "Well, I guess I may have been thinking too much."

He glanced at her again, and with an unusual kindness, he told her:

"Don't worry. It's okay to get back to sleep."

What Conan did not see was the way her lips faintly curved upwards before she, wordlessly, went deep inside her blankets just like she had been a few moments ago. Even as she closed her eyes, she would still see the gentle glint of his eyes as he spoke to her.

And it followed her to her dreams.

Soon, everything was quiet again. Sighing a bit louder than necessary, Conan gave the girl one last look before stretching his arms, failing to bit back a yawn that escaped him. _This will be a long night, _he realized, trying to rub the sleepiness away from his eyes.

_Ran-neechan isn't here... Might as well grab a cup of coffee._

* * *

"Sorry for the wait," a smiling Ran walked in, a tray on her hands as she walked closer to the bed. "It isn't as good as Tarugatei's, but... Eh? Is she asleep?"

Turning around to see, Conan wasn't surprised to see the back of Haibara's head, as she lied on her side, her back facing him and everyone else in that room. He didn't say anything about that, though, simply shook his head in silence and watched the older girl setting the tray in the table beside them.

"Well, I'll just leave it here," Ran said, her smile unwavering. "Remember to ask Ai-chan what she thinks of it after giving a try."

He gave her a nod and sat on the bed beside the scientist's, glaring at a spot in the back of her head while Ran left from the back door to go meet with Sonoko ─ she had been told that the front door had yet to be fixed.

"You might be an expert in many things, but you're terrible at feigning sleep," the boy stated, once they were alone with the professor. "And, you know? Being thankful isn't going to hurt, I promise."

"I didn't ask her to come."

"And Ran-neechan didn't ask to be treated this way," he shrugged. "I guess things just happen without us asking for them."

Haibara didn't answer, and didn't move either, causing Conan to sigh, more tired than ever before. He had tried, he had _really _tried to figure out what was going through her head, why she was _that _reluctant to be in vicinity to the high school girl, but he would always end up confusing himself even more.

_Feelings _were confusing, he supposed.

"Ran-neechan went through the trouble of coming here and making you that porridge," with a shrug, he stood up. "At the very least eat it before it gets cold."

He barely noticed her shifting, giving him another one of her _looks, _when his phone started ringing in his pocket. Not giving it any further thought, he glanced at the screen.

From her spot where she was sitting, Haibara paused on her movements to gather the steaming pot of porridge in order to give a confused stare towards the boy. She didn't understand it, the reason why his conflicted blue eyes stared at his brother's name in the screen, and why he, for a couple of long minutes, didn't make an attempt to pick it up.

Haibara, too, couldn't understand what was going through his mind.

Eventually he did pick up, with a frown and a plain voice.

"What do you want?"

It took a moment for Shinichi to reply.

"Hey, Co-"

"_What _do you want?"

"Hey, what's with you?" Conan didn't bat an eye at the annoyed tone of his brother's voice.

"You didn't answer my question."

A sigh on the other side, followed by a long period of silence, was more than enough for the young boy to know that Shinichi was probably growing exhausted, even if they hadn't yet said much. Even so, Conan couldn't really bring himself to care.

_He _was tired. Of all this.

"I want to know, Conan," he could have rolled his eyes at that, but he didn't. "You sounded a bit scared the other day, and I want to know if you're okay."

The scent of fresh coffee met his nostrils all of sudden, instantly gathering all attention from the uninterested, mostly irritated boy. "I'm fine," he said with a shrug, watching the professor fill a couple of cups with the hot beverage.

"What happened?" the teenager's voice was serious as he spoke.

"What makes you _think _that something happened?"

"It's unusual for you to be so distracted in a case, not to mention that you were in such a rush to solve it."

"I'm telling you, there is nothing to worry about," he assured him, as he walked towards the counter, picking one of the cups up. "Occhan had decided that the victim had killed himself and Inspector Megure was agreeing with him. If I didn't hurry up, the killer would have gotten away."

Agasa looked up at him. "Pass that one to Ai-kun, please," he whispered to the child.

With a nod, he obliged.

"Is that Professor Agasa?" came Shinichi's curious question.

"Yeah. I'm at his house."

"Ah, I see. You have been taking care of Ai-chan, haven't you? Heard she had a bit of a cold."

"You could say that."

"Did you manage to get her that egg porridge from...? What was the name again...? Ah, Tarugatei?"

Something of what he had just said caught him off guard and caused the child to stumble on his own feet. "Ouch!" the motion was so sudden that some of the hot liquid was spilled everywhere, including his own hand.

Before he knew what was happening, his hand had let go of the cup by reflex, causing it to drop into the ground and shatter beyond repair.

_His eyes didn't leave the floor, or more precisely the tiny little pieces of broken clay that lied in front of him, scattered across the corner of that empty, silent room. Noticing something that shouldn't be there, the little child crouched in front of the mess he had just created._

_There, in the middle of it all, was a tiny little piece of paper, folded neatly._

_His fingers reached over to grab it._

"Conan!" Shinichi's voice dragged him back to reality.

Blinking a few times, Conan looked around to realize that he was crouched in front of the broken pieces of a _ceramic cup, _and definitely _not _clay. There was nothing there either, just a mess spilled coffee and the remains of a cup that had clearly outlived its use.

A hand was wrapped against his, so he looked up. "You'll get hurt if you pick them up like that," Agasa was there, giving him a concerned look as he pried his fingers away from the broken cup.

Even Haibara looked worried, if the way her eyes narrowed slightly was something to go by.

"Are you okay?" continued his brother. "I heard a loud noise and Professor Agasa has been calling your name for a while now."

"... Sorry," he finally managed, massaging his temples with a groan. "I kind of spaced out for a moment there."

Meanwhile, the professor and Haibara exchanged looks, before Agasa gently pulled the child back on his feet. "You should go get some rest, Conan," he instructed him, guiding him to the empty bed.

"I'm fine, really," he sighed. "I was just distracted."

"Conan," the voice on the phone was serious, and Conan didn't really want to deal with it. "How many hours of sleep did you get?"

"Around nine?"

"... Is that a question or an answer?"

"Try with something closer to zero," the scientist said from her spot, nonchalantly, causing Shinichi to gasp and Conan to groan.

For a fraction of a second, no word was spoken. Conan's lips remained shut, as he listened to his brother's silence. Then, a deep intake of air was heard...

The call was ended by the youngest before he could manage a word.

_I should give him a call later, _he decided, with a sigh, placing his phone on a table, next to Haibara's empty dishes. _When he's a bit... calmer, I guess._

A giggle cut through the silence of the room and his eyebrow started twitching on its own, by reflex. "Isn't this amusing?" her teasing tone was there, as expected. "That you're so fearless when you chase after those men in black, yet you cower away at the thought of your brother being angry with you."

"I'm not afraid," he scoffed at her. "It's just that I'm not interested in sitting through an hour long scolding."

"I take it you're used to them, right?"

"Even so, Shinichi is right to be angry," said Agasa, and Conan decided that his current stern expression did _not _fit him. "You can't just stay up all night and wave it off as nothing. You're only a child!"

"Why is that you don't tell _that _to that child over there?" a glare was sent to Haibara's way, who remained unfazed throughout it all. "I'm pretty sure she's basically half owl, half human at this point."

_Or half owl, half demon, I don't know._

Shaking his head, Agasa wisely chose not to answer, just pressed his hands against his shoulders, successfully getting him to sit on top of the bed. "Take a nap," the professor ordered. "I'll keep watch if it makes you feel more comfortable."

Leaving no room for complaining, Agasa left right away. Even after he was gone, Conan just sat there, staring at the place where the old man had just been standing at, before shrugging and, reluctantly, turning the sheets out.

"Sometimes I wonder why he isn't this strict with you."

"You can't order a lady around, Kudo-kun."

"You can't be a lady and a mad scientist at the same time-" he barely had the time to finish his sentence before he had to dodge the pillow thrown his way. "Yeah, that's totally lady-like."

"Ladies can be strong. Strong enough to successfully concuss annoying detectives while drinking some coffee, at least." she sipped on her mug, calmly. "Elegantly."

His mouth opened to shoot something back at her but a glare that clearly stated _'do you really want to say that?' _made him realize that, no, he truly didn't.

So, with a long sigh, he leaned down on top of the mattress and closed his eyes.

_There's a dangerous criminal syndicate out there, probably stalking us yet here I am. Taking a nap when there's still light outside._

Figuring that the boy was probably going to give up by now, the girl simply set the empty mug on the table and was about to do exactly the same thing. But her movements came into a halt when a voice resounded in her ears.

"Haibara-san," he said, almost in a whisper. Looking at him, she noticed his eyes were now open, yet staring at the ceiling above. Blankly, yet deep in thought. "Why... Why did my brother join the Black Organization?"

Her expression did not change as she studied him for a moment.

"It's a wonder why you haven't asked until now," the girl pointed out.

He did not comment on that, and she didn't really him need to. Experience from the other time when he had been so scared of knowing _if _Shinichi actually belonged to that organization told her that the reason was more or less the same as then. Even now, it looked like he didn't know if he _wanted _to be aware.

Especially when his troubled eyes didn't want to meet hers, just gazing at something far, far away.

"As much as I want to tell you, I know as much as you do about this," she finally replied. "Shinichi-san was very secretive when he was working for the organization," her gaze went hard and cold at those words, as if remembering some older and cruder times. "In a place like that, you can trust nobody."

"But you two _did _trust each other," it wasn't a question. "Or at least, he trusts you enough to give you his phone number."

Her eyes widened in surprise at that. "How did you know?"

"He didn't seem confused when I mentioned that Occhan was in the department store yesterday, which means he hadn't talked with Ran-neechan yet. But he knew we went to get some Tarugatei's egg porridge," Conan shrugged. "You probably talked with him while you were resting inside the car."

Haibara gave him a long look, before sighing. "He gave it to me last time we met," she explained, leaning down in bed and contemplating the ceiling just like the other child. "He told me to call him," she continued, in a much quieter tone. "To call him whenever I felt alone," then, a chuckle escaped her. "To think that he can still read me so well."

Silence ensued after that, causing the scientist to think that the detective had just fallen asleep. Smiling slightly to herself, she brought the blankets closer to her and was about to close her eyes.

"How was he like?"

Quite honestly, Haibara did not expect that kind of question. And it must have shown on her face, because he quickly elaborated.

"It's a bit silly, but I feel like I know nothing about my brother," his eyes were sincere as they looked into hers, for the first time in a long while. "I haven't spent enough time as we should have so, as embarrassing as it sounds, you probably know him better than me."

It took a whole minute for the girl to stop blinking at the boy, shocked beyond words about what he had just said, before she giggled. The pout did not take long to appear, even if it did take some time for Conan to realize it was there.

She still remembered the first time they had met.

_Sherry was only six when that woman introduced the boy to him. _

_He was young, not as young as she was, of course, since the boy was probably nine to ten years older than she was, but... That was it. In her eyes, at least._

_Apparently, he would be going to take care of her all afternoons from now on._

_Apparently, she was supposed to call him Singani. Apparently, since he had been brought by that woman over there a year ago he had done nothing but excel in his work. Apparently, even that person was enchanted by such efficiency and perfection, and it had brought him where he was. _

_He was the youngest person, next to Sherry herself, to have earned a codename._

_But, to Sherry, all that meant nothing._

_Because all of them where the same to her._

"_Nice to meet you," there was something different though. For a moment or so, she wondered what it was, not paying attention as the woman left without any further word. "I'm Shinichi."_

_It took her a long while, but she realized it. It was the smile, big and bright, unlike anything he had seen in that dark, depressing place._

_Her blank stare didn't change, though, and just went back to her work without even gracing him with an answer._

"He's exactly the same as you know him, Kudo-kun. There aren't any mysteries there."

The boy did not reply, but kept staring at her until she looked away and fixed her gaze in a random spot in the ceiling once more. She didn't notice, however, the sweet, albeit small, smile drawing on her face.

"_Did you know? You remind me of someone."_

_Sherry didn't get what he meant with that, so she turned around and away from her computer to give him one of her gelid gazes, that for some reason he seemed to hold with outstanding ease._

_There was this sad smile that she had seen on him from time to time, but that she hadn't questioned, as he sat cross-legged in that stool he had taken, in the corner of the lab._

"_He's around your age," he explained. "He's quiet around people he doesn't know and he comes out as rude most of the time. He's smart, too. Like, really smart. I would say he is a prodigy, just like you."_

_The inexpressive stare she gave him did not hinder him, just amused him a bit more._

"_He's a bit of lacking in the social department, though," he continued, in a softer voice. "I heard he has been having some trouble making friends lately."_

"_Heard?"_

_His smile did not falter, even if the shine on his blue eyes dimmed a little bit. "I haven't seen him for a long time," he confessed. "I know he is okay, even if struggling with living in an entire different country. But sometimes I wonder... How is his life like now? Has he grown a lot? Just a little bit? Is he... happy?"_

_Sherry did not reply, looking away from him and back to her work. She didn't look up, even if she heard him standing up and moving closer._

"_And I suppose it's the same thing with Akemi-san and you, isn't it?" she felt his hand landing on the top of her head, with such a gentleness that caused her to blink, for a moment._

_She didn't really remember last time somebody had treated her like that... Except for..._

_Her sister's smile flashed in her mind._

"_Sherry-chan, look at me," even if she knew she shouldn't, Sherry looked up at him and was surprised to see his warm, sincere eyes. _

_They did not belong to such a dark place like that one, and it made her wonder why he was doing in there. _

"_I promise I'll do every single thing in my power so you can see your sister again. If that is what you truly want."_

"_... Shiho," Shinichi didn't expect her to say. "Miyano Shiho."_

The sounds of deep, calm breathing caused Haibara to give a curious glance to her side to see the chest of his current roommate rising and falling in a steady yet slow pace.

_"I promise I will set you and Akemi-san free... One day, this organization will see its end and everything will go back the way it was supposed to be."_

_"... Will it be the same for you and your brother, Shinichi-san?"_

_His smile was radiant as ever when he answered._

_"Without a doubt."_

She couldn't help but to smile as she closed her eyes, falling asleep just like the boy that she was sharing the room with.

* * *

An entire week had passed rather quickly since then and, when Saturday struck, Agasa took Haibara to meet Professor Miyano Atsushi's childhood friend ─ apparently, Haibara's family name was Miyano, which wasn't _that _out of this world, but Conan, unlike Agasa, had absolutely no idea.

Dejima Souhei told them, however, that last time he had seen him had been around thirty years ago when he had borrowed that house, which apparently belonged to Atsushi's parents. _Haibara-san's grandparents, _Conan's brain supplied, glancing at the girl by the corner of his eye.

Who didn't even notice she was being watched, curious eyes travelling around the place where her father had grown.

"Then, where did Professor Miyano stay after that?" questioned Conan.

"Well, he had found a sponsor to support a theory of his, and said he would be moving to a large research facility, but I don't know where it is."

The two children exchanged looks at that, but said nothing. Not that they needed words to know what was in each other's minds:

_It must be them._

After that, contact with Miyano had been lost to the point that Dejima only got a postcard stating he had gotten married in that period of time.

"Oh, there was one time when that person came around when you weren't there," Zaitsu Ukihito, one of the workers there, stated. "He brought his beautiful foreign wife and his adorable four or five year-old daughter. It seemed he had something important to discuss with you and, in the end, stayed for an entire day before leaving. Didn't I tell you?"

"I never heard about this!"

"I think his wife's name was Elena, and their daughter was named Akemi-chan," Haibara's eyes shifted away from Zaitsu as he pondered. "Strange father and daughter, huh?"

"Yeah," Imai Tetsuo, another worker, agreed with a smile. "Especially when he couldn't do anything about his daughter's mischief. That child hid all of our work tools. She then watched us in glee as we panicked."

Haibara had an unreadable look on her eyes as she listened to their words, describing her beloved sister from when she was a child. Looking at her, Conan couldn't help but notice how different Akemi had been from his sister.

Then again, Akemi had had a much more normal, happier childhood. That made him wonder how Haibara could have been like if she hadn't been involved with Them.

"His wife stayed put and never said a word to us, which made me wonder if she even knew the language. I later overheard her speaking Japanese to her daughter. The father kept on looking outside the window," Imai commented, as he remembered more and more things. "Oh yeah, at that time there was a car stationed outside this house."

"Yeah, it was back with smoked windows, right?"

_Surveillance, _Conan didn't need the fact to be spelled for him.

"Speaking of Akemi-chan. She came over once as well," Zaitsu commented. Two little heads snapped towards his direction at the mention of that name. "It was the cute girl who borrowed our bathroom," he told his superior before heading to the restroom. "When she said 'It's been a while' to us, it came as quite a shock."

"Was she actually Miyano-kun's daughter?" Dejima blinked.

"Oh, didn't you know? Sorry!"

With that, the door closed behind the man, but none of the children was content with such a vague answer. "Did she really only come to use the bathroom?" so Conan asked.

"Y-Yeah," he nodded. "But she said something very strange... She said it was embarrassing to borrow the bathroom, and told me not to tell anyone."

Their reaction was instant. One moment Haibara and Conan were nodding at each other, and the other they were in front of the bathroom door, desperatelytrying to open it even if it was locked.

Before long, it opened and Zaitsu came out. "There you go," he moved aside for one the children to pass.

He didn't expect _both _children to walk inside, calmly as it was the most normal thing in the world. "... Both of you?" he managed, through the shock.

It was the boy who turned around. "Yeah," he said with a plain voice. "Problem?"

"N-No. Just making sure."

Not that he had much time to say anything else, because the child closed the door in his face, not letting him an opportunity to reply.

Conan paid no mind, just locked the door and, just like the scientist, started to search through the bathroom.

Their time was cut short, however, when Dejima started banging on the bathroom door, stating that he _really _needed to use the bathroom. They figured they would continue their search later.

* * *

Of course, somebody died that day. Victim had been Dejima Sohei, who had collapsed immediately after taking a bite of his hamburger, poisoned.

Haibara seriously believed it was done by the Organization. And it wasn't hard for Conan to see where that reasoning had come from. Her sister had, most likely, hidden something in the bathroom and they had been told that someone broke in soon after she had came there.

But Conan wasn't entirely convinced.

"Did anyone go to the bathroom before the president?" Inspector Megure questioned Imai.

"I did, before I went to buy lunch," explained Natsubori Isamu, yet another worker.

"I went after that, and then Zaitsu-kun went," Imai glanced at said coworker.

"Afterward, the president went to the bathroom..." Megure frowned.

"Ah, no. While I did go to the bathroom before the president, I wasn't the last one to go in before him," Zaitsu explained. "Between the president and I going..." he turned around. "Those kids went as well."

Nobody was really surprised to see Conan and Haibara standing there, blankly looking back at them as if nothing was wrong, Agasa standing behind with an awkward smile.

The boy didn't even twitch, even when Megure's gaze fixed on him. _All this time, it wasn't Mouri-kun, _he realized, with a raised eyebrow. _The real Shinigami must be Conan-kun instead._

_Guess it runs down in the family..._

"So," Takagi bent down a bit so he could talk with the children. "Which one of you went in first?"

"We went together," said Haibara, blunt, yet blatantly honest.

Takagi blinked. "... Both of you went in together?"

"A bathroom is still a room, so it shouldn't be _that _surprising," Conan shrugged.

"Yeah, but..."

"Is it a crime?"

"N-No."

"Then, why are you still questioning us? I'm pretty sure there is much more important stuff than to wonder whether we were together in an slightly enclosed space or not, Detective Takagi."

By the time the boy had finished his statement, Takagi's lip was twitching slightly. So with a nervous laugh, he straightened up and turned around to have a word with Megure.

The inspector and the child's gazes met for a slight moment, before Conan suggested that there could be traces of poison in this room, causing Megure to order Takagi to begin a body search and a throughout investigation of the room.

It wasn't until the inspector was alone that he felt something tugging from his shirt. Looking down, there was no other but Conan, a very serious expression pinching his face.

There was no need for words, since Megure _knew _what was all that about. So, he crouched down right next to him.

"I haven't been able to talk with Yusaku-kun. It seems as if his phone has been turned off."

Conan wasn't really surprised about that. _Running away from reporters again, huh?_

"But if Yusaku-kun decided it was best to have you being a completely different person, I think the best is to pretend that nothing has happened at all."

Sighing loudly, the child had no other choice but to agree.

"Inspector Megure," then, he spoke up, eyebrows bringing themselves together into a frown. "Please, can you tell me what happened with that case?"

The inspector was hesitant.

"Conan-kun, there are many things that probably are _not _worth knowing."

"But didn't my kidnapper die in prison?" he questioned further. "Why... Why are you making it sound as if it isn't over?"

Something passed by the inspector eyes, that made the child's skin to crawl. He watched, in silence, as the man in front of him gave him a long, intense look, before replying.

"When I found out about your real identity the other time, I took into my own hands to investigate what was going on," he explained, slowly. "But they were gone. All files related to your disappearance four years ago."

Conan felt his blood running cold.

Seeing that he had made his point across, the inspector gave Conan a last, long look, before standing up to continue doing his job. The child, on the other hand, stood there, frozen in place by his words just then.

"You're look pale," at that, the boy actually jumped and spun around, only to meet with the scientist's piercing blue gaze. "Well, it isn't like I can blame you. Since it clearly could have been _them._"

It took a moment more than needed for Conan to recover. "But wouldn't it be a bit late if that wasn't the case?" he pointed out. "It has been more than thirty years."

"The target was me. What if they killed my father's friend in order to put pressure on me?"

"A friend you didn't even know existed until a few weeks, Haibara-san," her eyes narrowed and focused on the floor, which prompted him to continue. "Besides, why would they know-?"

"I felt it," Conan's mouth shut at those words. "At that department store in Haido City, on that day, as I was losing consciousness... I could feel the cold gaze of contempt on me."

His eyes widened in horror. "What do you...?" he whispered, his face losing colour. Then he snapped out of it and continued, his tone stronger than before. "Why did you come here, then?! You knew it would be dangerous, then why?!"

"Because I want to know," her voice did not waver. "I want to know whether my parents were really like the Organization claimed. Especially after meeting your cheerful mother."

Haibara noticed that, at the mention of his mother, the boy seemed to frown a bit more, and silently wondered about the reason behind his actions. But didn't even try to comment on it, simply continued.

"But the rumors about my father, the mad scientist, seem to be true. And my mother seemed silent and gloomy. It's hard to figure exactly what she was thinking, isn't it?"

"It must run down in the family, huh?"

Her lips curved into a smirk. "Do you know what they called my mother in the Organization?" Haibara added. "Hell Angel."

Conan did not find the right words to answer.

"Well, since this isn't interesting any longer, that's one less burden," with a shrug, she began to walk away. "All right, we're done with my troubles. Don't interfere with the case anymore. How about we leave this place now?"

"Are you sure about that?"

Not quite expecting the boy to say that, the scientist turned around to meet with Conan's ever arrogant, knowing smirk. "Aren't you interested in the thing that your sister hid in that bathroom?"

Her eyes went wide. "Did you find it?"

"No, but I know where it is," he stated, before grinning at the old professor. "I'll go pick it up while the Professor here gives out his brilliant deduction."

Agasa merely blinked at that.

* * *

"If there's poison on this, it should also be..." Megure pondered, after having found the poisoned toilet paper roll. "... On the bag with the empty toilet roll... And maybe the bottle used to house the poison."

"In the triangular corner of the sink drain," Haibara's eyes met with the culprit's. "If it were me, after planting the poison in the bathroom, I would hide it there while making the coffee in the kitchen. It's dirty and has an unpleasant smell. No one would dare touch it."

His eyes widened, and all of sudden it wasn't the strawberry blonde girl who was in front of him, but rather a brunette with wide, innocent eyes.

"Even if I couldn't get rid of it without drawing attention, someone would definitely do it for me on accident."

"_Could you be hiding something? Don't hide it in the triangular corner. Somebody might throw it away."_

Takagi then returned, a suspicious-looking bag on his hand. He claimed to have found it in the triangular corner of the sink drain.

Imai was forced to confess. Angered by something that had happened twenty years ago between him and the victim, he had decided to murder his boss. It had been little Akemi, with her adorable bright smile, that had stopped him from doing that terrible deed.

Then, she had come back, just as he was thinking of commiting murder again.

"_I'll come again next week," _her smile had been as bright as he remembered it. "_I'll bring my little sister, too."_

"But she never came."

Conan's head lowered and kept quiet, simply listening as Imai commented how badly he had looked forward seeing Akemi again. "_I'll leave the rest to you, little detective," _her last words were still clear and fresh in his mind, even if a long time had passed since then.

He didn't dare to look at his hands, since he knew he would still be able to see her blood in them.

He didn't dare to look at Haibara either, since he knew what kind of expression he would see on her face.

He simply clutched the package he had found in the bathroom, safely tucked away in his pocket.

It wasn't until when they were on their way home that he decided to take them out.

Inside the little plastic bag, there were cassette tapes, numbered one through twenty. Haibara had been speechless when he told her he had found them.

And she had been _so _terrified when he suggested that they could be leads to those men in black they knew perfectly well, yet not that much all the same.

"W-Wait!" she yelled, desperate, at the sight of him putting on some headphones to listen. "Don't! This isn't something you need to know!"

His finger hit play.

"_For the six year-old..." _he was confused when he heard the sweet, female voice resounding on his ears.

"If you probe any deeper, you will... Really-!"

She froze, then blinked, when he immediately pushed the 'stop' button. Light was refracting on his thick glasses, making it impossible to realize what he was thinking about.

"Forgive me, Haibara-san," Haibara was genuinely confused at the sincerity of his words. "This tape is something I shouldn't have heard," he took out his headphones, not even looking at her. "It's yours... It's a voice for you."

_... A voice for me?_

"Listen."

Without saying anything else, she hesitantly accepted the headphones and put it on place, watching in confusion as Conan pressed a button. Her eyes opened dramatically when a voice of a woman started speaking, pouring love in each and single word she said.

"_For the six year-old Shiho... Happy Birthday."_

_Mom..._

Conan didn't say anything, watching as the shock in Haibara's face gradually faded and a serene, tender smile came into light as her eyes closed, clearly enjoying the sound of her mother's soft, sweet voice.

_Most likely, she felt that her own death was imminent, and asked Haibara-san's sister to pass along a message to her daughter... Via these cassette tapes._

He exchanged a smile with the professor, before the old man's eyes returned to the road. The boy, on the other hand, glanced at the happy girl one last time.

_I'm happy for you, Haibara-san. Your mother was a real angel._

Then, his eyes closed. A long sigh escaped from his lips while his hand slid inside his pocket.

_She might be far from an angel, but maybe..._

The cool feeling of his phone on his fingers caused the boy to open his eyes and to gaze at the beautiful orange sky.

_Maybe I should give mine a chance as well._

* * *

A/N:

Asahina Chihaya: No, I don't think I will. Even if I liked the movies, I feel like I don't have the necessary amount of knowledge about Lupin to write about him.

ajjr12: Sorry, must have accidentally skipped it. I hadn't thought about it, but I will think of it. Sounds cool ;)


	49. The Invitation from Hades

**File Forty-Nine: The Invitation from Hades**

"Huh? Co-chan? Is something wrong?"

"I want to ask you something, Mom."

"Ah? What is it?"

"You said you studied under Kuroba Toichi before, right?"

"Yeah, what about that?"

"Did he also teach you how to talk with spirits? You know, mediumship and all that stuff..."

"... What are you talking about?"

"So he didn't?"

"He didn't."

"Then how?" his voice raised at that sentence, his hand clenching against the phone. "How is that you're talking with your son that has died more than four years ago?"

The silence that ensued was almost deafening.

And it only grew more notorious in the quietness of the house he was standing there, all alone. Because he knew he needed more privacy when talking about such a touchy subject, Conan had decided to call from his real house.

So there he was, awaiting an answer from his mother, the woman that had brought him to the world, despite what every single soul in this country ─ sans a few exceptions ─ believed.

"Inspector Megure figured out I was your son," he continued, voice dangerously low, when she fell silent due to her shock. "So I believe an explanation is in order."

"Conan," it was his father. Conan figured his mother had put it on speaker. "You need to calm down."

"How am I supposed to?!" he snapped. "He said I'm dead, Dad. _Dead. _Can you imagine how I felt when he said that?!"

"You're not dead, Conan," Yusaku pointed out, unhelpfully.

"Oh, really? Thanks, I seriously _didn't _notice," Conan rolled his eyes. "That explains why I'm able to physically hold his phone so I can listen you two lying into my face, _again_."

For a couple of seconds, Conan did not speak, solely focused on the silence that had settled between his parents, who were undoubtedly wordlessly debating what to say next. The child took advantage from that time to take deep breaths, in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Conan," his mother was the first one. "You're right."

"I don't like being lied to," slowly sitting in the stairs, the little boy said to them, in a soft, almost audible voice.

"We know," the honesty of her voice soothed, just a tiny bit, Conan's nerves. "That's why we're going to be completely frank with you."

Conan didn't respond to that.

"But you have to know that I haven't said a single lie last time I saw you. Every single thing I said was completely and irrevocably true."

"You changed my last name."

"Certainly," that was his father.

"Then, will you _finally _tell me what happened four years ago?"

There was a long, exhausted sigh.

"As you know, the case took place in your daycare center," Yusaku began. "At first it seemed to be a ordinary case of child abduction. There was a girl that, one day, didn't come back home."

Conan was slightly surprised about that, but didn't comment on it. He pondered over it, forcing his mind to remember that distant period of time.

He managed to recall something, vaguely. The girl that had disappeared was in Sakura Class, while he still was in Tulip Class. He remembered _not _talking with her at all.

Partly because they were in different classes. Partly because both of them were unusually quiet, antisocial children. Conan because he was shy ─ at that time he wasn't that much of a rude brat as he was now ─ but that girl was simply... weird. Silent, cold.

_Maybe she was actually shy, _he shrugged.

"Do you remember what you did?"

"I..."

"_I want to be like Dad and Onii-chan! I want to be the best detective to have ever lived!"_

His eyes opened slightly. "I wanted to solve the case," he recalled. "You two were in a trip for a week, and I didn't tell Shinichi-niichan anything because I wanted to do this without his help. So nobody noticed."

"Except for that teacher."

He still could remember him. Kind eyes and a brilliant smile on his face, loved by every single children in his class.

"_Oh, I see you like reading, Conan-kun."_

"_Yeah! I love mystery novels."_

"_Ah, really? I'm a bit of a mystery fanatic as well."_

Of course, Conan hadn't been an exception. Considering he had always had a hard time making any kind of friends, the company of this fun, considerate and mystery enthusiast teacher had been something that Conan had grown to love. To the point that he would trust him with anything.

"_Hey, Conan-kun, what are you doing?"_

"_Shh!" the child hushed him instantly, before he returned his gaze to the sketchbook he had been writing in. "Don't tell anyone! Please, would you keep a secret?"_

"_Of course!"_

"_It's a code! Or at least, I think it is. I haven't been able to solve it yet."_

_The man leaned over to take a peek of the page that the child had filled with different letters. He could tell, even if from his position in front of Conan he could only see them upside down._

_The teacher's smile faltered for some reason, and his eyes opened widely._

His own eyes were wide as well, as he dimly recalled the teacher excusing himself and making a call outside. Then, when it was about time to leave, he had told the little child there was something he had wanted to ask him about.

Little Conan was naive, and had followed him to an empty classroom.

Everything else was a blur. Something about the teacher pressing a cloth with some kind of drug against his nose, Conan kicking him in the shin in order to escape before he had been caught again.

Latching into one of those colourful pamphlets that read '_Nice to meet you!' _that teachers would hang on billboards. His Tulip Badge dropping in the ground. His hand stretching forward, in a silent plea of help to _anyone _that was outside that room. The nauseating sweet smell filling his nostrils again.

"_I'm really sorry, Conan-kun."_

Then, nothing.

"When we heard what had happened to you, we tried to get back to Japan as quickly as possible," Yukiko continued, her voice tinted with a bit of sadness that those memories brought in. "But there was a terrible storm and flights got cancelled. Thank goodness Shinichi found you."

_Onii-chan did? _he pondered, but wasn't that surprised. The memory he had of his brother, bleeding because of him, was still fresh, and he didn't think he would forget it anytime soon. _At least, not again._

"Then," the child demanded to know. "Why did you decide to fake my death?"

He didn't even bother to ask _how, _since he was aware of the many, many terrifying connections his father had.

A long silence ensued after that question, and that caused the child to grow a bit anxious. It was as if they were having a hard time silently debating if it was wise to tell him all that.

When he father sighed, Conan knew he had given up.

"Your kidnapper was found dead on his cell the morning after he had been imprisoned. The official statement was that he had smuggled a gun in and shot himself."

"There's more to that, isn't it?"

"... The shot had been inflicted on his mid abdomen."

Eyes widening at that revelation, the little boy took a deep, shaky breath as he thought about the implications of that. Naturally, a person who had decided to take their own life wouldn't shoot themselves in such a place.

_Someone else must have killed him._

"But there was no proof of anyone doing that, so the case was shut not long thereafter," his mother continued. "So your father and I decided to take you with us to America after changing your identity. That's when we took Edogawa Conan in, so to speak."

"Your brother protested a lot and ended up staying in Japan. At first we thought he simply didn't want to leave Ran-chan, but now, I can only wonder..."

It was clear as day that his reasons for staying were different.

"So, why is that I didn't know about this earlier? I had my name changed way before I came back to Japan!" Conan's overall confusion and shock was shown through a slight angry tone on his words. "I deserved to know that-"

"We know," the soft, slightly somber tone on his mother's voice caused Conan to pause and listen. "But we didn't want you to find out."

"Why?!

"Because you had been through a traumatic experience, Conan," he didn't expect those words. "You had suffered a lot, even repressed some your memories. How would you take it if we just told you we had to change your family name because we were afraid they would come after you?"

She had made a good point, so he didn't say anything back.

"So we told your teacher in America not to say anything about your 'true' parents, because it was still a touchy subject. And there was also the fact that it's common to call people by their first name overseas. Especially if you're only a little child."

After hearing all that Conan felt... drained. All those elaborate fabricated lies that his family had constructed all around him were finally, _finally _falling apart.

He had thought when, the time came, he would feel relieved, glad. Instead of that, he felt strangely depleted of energy, shoulders dropping a little as he sighed. The emotional stain was a bit too much.

And it seemed like it was the same for his parents, if they way they had also fallen quiet was something to go by.

"If that's true... If all of that is true," it was the son the first one to break the uncomfortable silence. "Why did you sent me back to Japan?"

"Four months after we left, Shinichi called to tell us that the people that worked with him had been finally arrested," Yusaku replied. "Admittedly, we believed his words without any question. We believed it was safe."

"And it was clear to us that you weren't happy here. We didn't know if it was because your classmates were giving you a hard time at preschool, or because you were beginning to distrust people after you were betrayed by that person. But you were becoming more distant, closed to yourself, more... sad."

Conan's gaze fell on the floor, not feeling like adding a comment to that.

"There was also the fact that you were growing more and more apart from Shinichi. And we didn't like that, especially when you two had seemed to get along so well in the past."

"We're sorry, Conan. We really are. You're far too young to be dealing with all this, yet..."

Trailing off into silence, both parents looked at each other from the place they were in, all across the world. Their child wasn't talking, unwilling to make any sound, which rendered them completely unable to understand what was going through his mind ─ _if _there was going something through his mind.

So, they felt worry tugging their hearts. Concerned about how their young child was taking the news.

But then, in an almost audible whisper, he finally gave them his reply.

"You two are the most irresponsible parents I've ever meet. Probably, the worst in this entire world."

They didn't find the words to answer to that comment, so they lowered their heads, accepting his.

"... But you did your best to protect me," both of them gave the phone a shocked, yet confused, glance. "I suppose it have been hard for you two, not only with my stuff, but having to deal with Shinichi-niichan living in another country as well. And to not let it show. To keep pretending that everything was fine, when it was not... For all that..."

A timid, bittersweet smile appeared on his face.

"For all that... Mom, Dad... Thank you. "

It took more than a moment for his parents to react, but he didn't rush them. He simply waited, patiently, for his words to finally be processed by their brains. He realized his feelings had been successfully conveyed when he heard his father's relieved sigh, and his mother's watery laugh.

"No need to say that, Conan," Yusaku added, with an unusually tender tone on his voice.

"We love you a lot, you know that, right?" he could almost hear Yukiko's gentle smile.

"I know," he really did.

And, even if he wouldn't say it outloud, his feelings were exactly the same.

There was no need to, though. He knew that his parents were already aware of that.

Leaving behind a warm feeling in each of their hearts, the call came into an end without saying much after that. Standing up, the boy stretched out, the ghost of a smile still on his face, and glanced once more at his phone. _Well, I guess that I need to call Ran-neechan next, right? _he needed to tell her that he was going to stay in Agasa's house a few more days to take care of Haibara.

That fuzzy feeling, however, left suddenly when he glanced upwards, right to the entrance of the big library.

The doors were slightly open.

Horror prompted his eyes to widen behind his thick glasses as he had closed them last time he had been there. Also, he knew for a fact Ran hadn't been there either.

So, without a further word and heart pounding heavily against his chest, the little boy left.

He only could hope against hope that it had only been his imagination.

* * *

The feeling of dread from the other time didn't disappear the next day, only got worse, fueled by Conan's ever overthinking mind that simply couldn't let that go. Because of all that, he had decided to check, making sure to be as careful as humanly possible.

Yet, he only got to the entrance. A letter sat on the mailbox, completely untouched, which prompted him to believe it hadn't been there for a long time.

Mostly curious about who had sent a letter to an otherwise abandoned house, he picked it up, partly expecting it to be just fanmail. A small part of him reminded him that, if that was the case, a fan would most likely know that nobody lived there. That Kudo Yusaku was overseas and Kudo Shinichi missing and unable to be traced.

At first sight, Conan couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. That was, however, until he turned it around.

Written in English was a word that caused the air freeze inside his lungs:

"_Vermouth"_

* * *

"Vermouth?" Agasa repeated over the phone. "Sorry, Ran-kun. I have never heard this name before."

Except that he had. The child had bursted open the door to his house so suddenly that the professor had almost dropped the cup of coffee he had been enjoying. Before he could do anything, the letter was shoved in his face.

"_Vermouth," _the boy had said, pale faced with a frown.

And the word had also filled the scientist's ears, causing her eyes to widen in terror and her body to shiver, violently, as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees out the blue.

Agasa didn't enjoy lying, but the stern look on Conan's face prompted him to make an exception.

"I want to ask for your help," Ran then said, causing him to pause. "Since it was mailed to my father, maybe... Maybe that guy received one too."

"Oh, Shinichi?"

"So could you check his mailbox for me? Because if he doesn't know about it, he'll complain about it later."

"Oh. Okay, I'll call you back if I find one. But I don't think he received one..."

Even though he could clearly read the word '_Shinichi-sama' _at the back of the letter that Conan was holding.

"And please," the seriousness on her voice prompted the Professor to focus in her voice. "Keep this a secret from Conan-kun."

Well, it was a bit too late for that, he supposed.

"If that kid goes to that type of place, he'll run into danger. Also..."

"Also, what?"

"Ah, well... Tell him to come back soon... And to stop running around."

He didn't completely understand the meaning behind her words, but he still agreed with them before she had to leave. Once the call was finished, the old professor sighed deeply, then turned to the children.

Who seemed to be having a staring contest, glaring at each other for reasons he couldn't comprehend. He must have missed something, Agasa guessed.

"I'm telling you I have absolutely no idea of who the sender is," Haibara was saying through her facemask.

"And I said that there's absolutely no way I'm buying that," Conan stated, taking a moment to study her further, before speaking up. "Your face is pale, you are sweating a lot. And you're shaking, hugging yourself tightly."

"I'm sick_, _Kudo-kun."

"Yeah, but your fever dropped _hours _ago. Besides, I didn't get to mention the way your entire body is tense and your eyes widened when I said that name," the boy's eyes narrowed. "You are terrified. You know who this person is."

Her glare did not subside, it became more intense instead.

"Well, even if you didn't, I have reason to believe is one of them, besides the obvious alcohol-themed codename, of course," his eyes fixed on the letter. "Outside it's addressed to 'Kudo Shinichi-sama', but in the inside..."

Agasa looked over Conan's shoulder, and couldn't help but gasp, terror evident on his pale face. "To..." he barely managed to breathe out. "To our detective and traitor, Singani-sama?!"

"Yeah," the boy merely nodded. "I guess that pretty much confirms he has betrayed the Organization, huh?"

Not that it was surprising.

For the longest moment, Haibara didn't say anything just watched the boy beside her bed giving the letter in his hands a long look, eyebrows furrowed as he focused in the words depicted.

But there was something on his eyes that caused her heart to drop on her stomach, and even more cold sweat to run down her forehead. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, unable to get her voice out from the knot on her throat, while helplessly listening Conan telling the professor about the off-season halloween party his brother had been invited.

"This is an invitation from their member Vermouth. Either they're prepared for him, or they can't wait any longer."

"... Kudo-kun," she finally managed. ".. You're _not _thinking of actually coming along and..." her voice trailed down into silence when Conan did not even look at her, just narrowed his eyes at the letter. He was determined, and she did not like that. As a proof of it, her fingers wrapped around the blankets, tightly. "You _will _get killed."

"I won't," he said, with such an amount of certainty that she would've actually believed it, if they weren't talking about _them. _"I have the perfect plan, so I will definitely _not _die."

"Forget it!" she yelled, angry and terrified all the same. "You have absolutely _nothing _to do with them-!"

A fit of coughing interrupted her, but Conan expression did not waver, even as he watched intently her curl into herself, in an attempt to recover her breath. Before long his eyes closed and let out a long sigh, setting the letter on top of the desk next to him.

"I promise," she looked up to see an unusually sweet smile drawn on his face, that did _not _help in soothing her at all. "I promise I will come back, alive."

"You idiot! You have to stop this. This... this is madness!"

"... I'm sorry, Haibara-san."

Before she could even ask what he was apologizing for, Haibara felt the prick on her neck causing her eyes to flicker towards Conan's hands, or more specifically, the wristwatch that he was pointing at her. She mentally cursed the boy, taking into the apologetic look he was giving him before her mind sunk into an ink of black.

Agasa was far too shocked to see the girl suddenly dropping into her bed, like a doll with her strings cut, to say anything.

"It doesn't matter if they kill me or not."

The professor blinked, confusedly, not taking his gaze away from the little boy that arranged Haibara, shifting her body into a more comfortable position and tucking her in, with a serious expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

His lips curved into an amused smile, even if he was sweating a bit. "Because she's going to kill me once she wakes up."

Agasa couldn't disagree.

"So, you're really going to go?" he asked instead, voice wavering in both concern and fear.

"If we keep running and running away, there will be no progress made."

The professor wanted to argue, but he understood the child far too well for that. He knew that if they didn't do anything, if they let those people have their way, both Haibara and Shinichi would be forever prisoners of their own fear, until they were found and ultimately killed. That, if the drug they had been poisoned with didn't do the work first.

Of course, the same destiny awaited them both and everyone that had any kind of connection with the two traitors.

Yet, understanding definitely didn't mean liking it.

He despised the idea of a eight year-old being so deeply involved in danger, but he didn't have any other choice but to trust his overly-intelligent, young mind.

Yukiko had called the other day. She had said that Yusaku had his hands tied behind his back and couldn't do anything to help.

If they found out that Shinichi, who had been known as Singani, was alive everything would be over.

So, with a heavy heart, Agasa was forced to admit that Conan was the only one who could do it.

"Conan," the child was surprised to see that resolve on the professor's eyes. "What do you need help with? You said you had a plan."

That didn't mean he would just stand back with his arms crossed.

"I have a few things to think about first," said the kid as he began to walk away, the old man in tow. "Maybe I should tell Shinichi-niichan about this," his eyes fell on the house next to the one he was at that could be seen through the window.

There was something he needed to investigate first.

* * *

It was deadly silent inside.

Not that it should have been surprising, since nobody has lived there ─ more like _actively _lived there because he had actually stayed there a few occasions, separate times ─ for more than a year now. Yet, it was something like a different _kind _of silence.

The kind that would cause his heart to threaten to rip from his ribcage, or a chill to run down his back. To expect something to come and get him from the dark corners of that house.

But he was certain. There _was _someone there.

He had, after all, checked the water, gas and electricity meter before going inside. They all had changed a bit since he had came by before.

_Who is in here?_

Conan flickered the light of his wristwatch on, and activated his shoes.

_I could deal with them if there were two, but what if there were three?_

Silently as he has never been before, the young boy walked up the stairs.

_Judging from the water, electric and gas meters, there shouldn't be more than two people, though._

Slowly, he tiptoed his way through the hallways, straining his ears to hear through the unsettling quietness. Approaching a door, he leaned against the wall and paused.

His hand went to the doorknob and gingerly turned it, so the door would open. Taking a deep breath, the young sleuth walked inside, moving closer and closer to the center of the room, being, little by little, swallowed by darkness.

He heard something shifting, so his eyes turned to the source and paled when he noticed a figure standing there, in the opposite corner of the room.

Before he had the chance to react to the unknown presence, the door closed on its own. Terrified, the child spun around. Through the darkness, he saw a gun.

The gun was pointed at him.

And before anything could be done, it hit him.

Something _cold_ hit his face.

It didn't take long for a very familiar giggle to resound in the silent room, to which he could only blink, perplexed upon the realization that his face was strangely wet.

And the figure in the darkness moved, the sound footsteps clear in his ears as that person walked right next to him.

The lights suddenly turned on and he saw his grinning mother, holding a water gun on her hand.

No words were enough to describe how annoyed he was.

But soon, all that irritation vanished, leaving place to confusion as he realized that his mother was nowhere close to the light switch.

When he saw the person responsible for the light in the room, his mouth hang open.

"... Onii-chan?!"

Definitely amused by his younger brother's atonishment, Shinichi merely smirked. "Hi, there," he would have been lying if he said he wasn't enjoying the sight of Conan, for once, being the one shocked beyond belief.

"Don't go 'hi' on me! What are you doing here...?" his bewildered eyes fell on his mother, who was still trying to hold back her laugh behind her hand. "What are _you two _doing here?!"

"Why," the tips of Yukiko's mouth were still struggling to remain straight, but she was failing. Even so, she moved closer and crouched in front of her son. "We were worried, Co-chan."

"So you decided to induce a heart-attack in a perfectly healthy eight year-old?" his shock had long receded, and a plain look took over. "Geez, thanks for your concern."

Yukiko chuckled, seeming completely unaffected by it.

But when his cold eyes fell on Shinichi, the teenager couldn't help but unconsciously take a step back.

"I expected _this _coming from Mom, but to think that even _you_ were playing along."

"You can't blame me!" the high school detective argued. "You needed to learn your lesson."

"A lesson on what? 'How to survive when having the most irritating family possible'?"

"Better try with 'do _not _enter a building when you're so certain that dangerous people are inside and, on top of that, alone'."

"That's a bit too long, isn't it?"

An exasperated groan escaped Shinichi, as he rubbed his hand against his face.

"Nevermind that, _why _did you come?" the child continued, not batting an at his brother's internal conflict. "And with that I mean, why are you that worried?"

"It didn't feel right," Yukiko was the first to answer. "Since we talked over the phone the other day... I just wanted to make sure you were okay after finding out all that."

She turned towards his eldest and smiled.

"But I was really shocked to see that Shin-chan had gotten home a few days before me."

"Same here," Shinichi shrugged. "You really scared me when you arrived. I really thought you were someone else."

"So, the person that was here when I was talking with Dad and Mom..." Conan blinked.

Shinichi simply nodded, and the child understood that he had most likely listened to every single word that he had said to his parents ─ and by the frown on his face, Conan could tell that his brother did _not _like what he had heard.

But at least it had been him. Unconsciously, Conan's shoulders dropped slightly, a bit of tension vanishing when that realization struck.

"So," Conan, now a bit more calmer, said to Shinichi. "Why did _you _come? Since you were already here before and all that."

"Because I didn't believe a single word you said the other day, you little liar."

"... Have you ever met a mirror?"

"You were obviously distressed," he explained, ignoring his comment on purpose. "And it wasn't the first time you had to convince Occhan that there's a murder in front of him."

Conan's eyes fixed in a random spot beside his brother, clearly avoiding his knowing look.

"Imagine my surprise when I talked to Ran later that day and she said that, while is true that you met with her at the department store, she was only hanging around with Sonoko and her English teacher," his eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something... and I don't mean just hiding the facts from me."

"Eh?"

"I can see something poking out your pocket. I would say it's a letter. That's an invitation from an off-season Halloween party from Vermouth, right?"

For a moment Conan was shocked, and couldn't figure out how Shinichi could have known about that, until he remembered that Kogoro had also received one. Ran must have told him, the child supposed.

"So, Conan, please. Just this once, for a change, tell us. What is going through your mind?"

Conan's hesitant eyes met his brother's.

"Just promise me you won't freak out."

* * *

"Are you absolutely and irrevocably crazy?!"

"You promised you wouldn't freak out."

"Yeah, but this, _this _plan... It borderlines with suicide!"

"Like you are the one to talk."

"Conan, you're basically saying that you're going to dress up as Ai-chan so you can get kidnapped. On purpose."

"Congratulations, you just proved you can understand basic Japanese."

"But Conan...!"

The child did not seem fazed, in the slightless, at his brother's panic. Simply grabbed a cookie her mother had bought and munched on it, as if they were just talking about the weather outside or another equally mundane topic.

"Are you finished?"

"I'm going to finish _you._"

"Okay, you can continue. Won't hurry you."

Agasa, who had been called over so they could talk about their next plan of action, laughed nervously as he watched the older Kudo frantically trying, in vain to get the youngest to see reason.

"Co-chan," their mother soothed, seeing that Shinichi was closer to having a mental breakdown than the child's expresion changing. "Your brother is right, this is dangerous. There will be more opportunities, maybe we should-"

"No," she was silenced by the seriousness of his voice. "Those people have found Haibara-san and they are waiting for the moment to strike. We can't wait any longer," he hesitated for some reason. " I can't..." then he sighed. "... I don't want to go back on my promise. My promise to her."

"What did you promise her?"

The way his eyes darted away from every single of their faces did not go unnoticed. He mumbled something, so softly that nobody inside that room heard.

"Maybe you should try speaking up," Agasa pointed out.

All of sudden, a faint shade of pink painted his cheeks.

And the three of them could only blink.

"... I promised I would protect her," his voice was a bit louder now. "That's why... That's why I have to do this. This _has _to stop and..."

When he looked up, he trailed off into silence and blinked owlishly at the gradually widening grin his mother had on her face. At her side his brother was rubbing his temples while Agasa simply looked at them, equally confused, but the way his lips were tugging upwards he could tell he was ultimately amused about something.

_... Did I say something wrong?_

Before he had time to do anything about it, he saw his mother standing up and walking around the coffee table. "Oh, Co-chan has gotten so big!" the next instant, he was being glomped in one of those bone-crushing bear hugs. "I'm so proud of you!"

_... Eh?_

As she hugged him, she focused on his groaning son and let go a bit. "That's right, I forgot," she suddenly said, causing Shinichi to huff.

Conan watched with wide, curious eyes as Yukiko stretched her hand towards her eldest who, in turn, reached for something inside his pocket. The child didn't understand why he had pulled out his wallet, taken a bill then placed it on Yukiko's hand.

The boy only stared, cluelessly.

"You were betting whether he liked Ai-kun or not?" Agasa asked, completely surprised, the woman with the bright smile.

_... What?_

"Of course not," Shinichi said, rolling his eyes, annoyance sipping on his voice. "We both knew about that already."

"Shin-chan believed Co-chan was far too dense to realize it," Yukiko explained, before giving Shinichi a teasing smile. "When will you understand that not everyone is as slow as you are? You haven't even confessed to Ran-chan, have you?"

"Leave me alone."

"... Hey, hey," the young voice broke through the conversation. "What... Just _what?_"

Mother and son looked at the little child, blinking twice at his wide, wide blue eyes behind thick glasses, and the bright, lovely blush present on his overall confused, yet equally embarrassed face.

The smile on his mother's face dropped at the instant and Shinichi's smug grin made its appearance.

With a sigh, Yukiko pressed the bill she had just been given on top of the detective's open palm and went to take something else from her pocket.

"Hey!" Conan yelled, now utterly annoyed, face redder than ever before.

* * *

A/N:

Dy: Don't worry, I already have plans for a chapter like that. It might take a while until I write it, though.

Guest: That's actually a tough question, since I really like them both! Out of those two, however, I would say I love CoAi more, however XD

ajjr12: I don't know myself XD Hopefully, though, not long.


	50. That Demon Called Vermouth

**File Fifty: That Demon Called Vermouth**

_"Need your help._

_I want you at my old house in two hours."_

Hattori Heiji let out a long sigh, standing in front of the Kudo Household as he gave the text he had received earlier that day one last look, waiting for anyone to let him in.

_What's with that brat? _he huffed, placing his phone back inside his pocket. _Making me take a plane to Tokyo all of sudden..._

Sometimes, Heiji wondered why he would let that kid boss him around.

"Ah, Hattori-kun," the detective of the West looked towards the source of that voice, and was shocked to see that it was Professor Agasa opening the gate for him. "Long time no see."

He nodded and muttered a hello at him, before following inside. "Where's the kid?" he asked, a bit confused.

"He's a bit busy," he simply replied, earning a questiongly look. "You will see what I mean in a moment."

He hoped he would, because he couldn't see what he meant with that.

The door was opened and he, of course, walked in, taking in his surroundings for a moment ─ he couldn't remember ever being there, now that he thought about it ─ and was a bit more than impressed about how _big _this place was. _Well, his parents are rich, _he reasoned, as he was guided to the living room.

What he saw there prompted him to pause, rub his eyes then look again.

Yet he was still there, sitting on the sofa, hand on his chin, deep in thought.

"K-Kudo?!"

Immediately, a sense of deja vu washed over him causing to him to realize that _this _had happened before, but he paid no mind, since this time was different ─ instead of puzzlement on Kudo's face, his eyes actually widened slightly in surprise when he saw him there.

"Oh, Hattori," he simply said. "I see, so it was you the one that Conan said he had asked help to."

"More like demanded cooperation from me," Hattori rolled his eyes, moving to sit beside his fellow detective while Agasa left to check on Conan. "If he's like that when asking for help, I don't want to know what would await me if I refused."

Shinichi sighed, and Heiji realized that he must had been the same for him. So he gave him a long look, before crossing his arms behind his head.

An uncomfortable silence followed after that, since none of them had absolutely no idea of what to talk about.

"So, uh," Heiji tried. "Are you okay?"

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. All other times I had met you, you had these crazy chest pains and..."

"Ah, right. I have been taking those pills that Ai-chan has created and they seem to be helping a bit."

Hattori was confused. "Ai-chan?" he asked, not remembering hearing that name in his entire life.

Shinichi froze, worrying that he had said something that he wasn't supposed to say. "I thought Conan had told you about..."

"Ah, you mean that Haibara kid?" the teen let out the breath he didn't know he was holding when Hattori spoke. "Sorry. Conan usually refers to her as 'Haibara-san', so I had no idea..." then continued with an afterthought. "So you mean that miniature, cold-hearted scientist actually has the character for 'love' in her name, huh?"

"It's written as 'sorrow'," Hattori jumped at the female voice behind him. "Quite fitting for such cold-hearted individual, right?"

Spinning around, Heiji met with the sight of a certain strawberry blonde girl, who had a facemask covering her mouth. Her eyes were cold as they glared at him, and that alone caused him to shiver.

Kudo Yukiko appeared from behind, followed by Agasa. "Heiji-kun, right?" she smiled, as if the child with her didn't look like strangling him any time soon. "I heard you have been taking care of my younger son. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"It's me who deserves an apology," Haibara muttered under her breath.

And Heiji blinked, not understanding why that little girl was reacting so strongly for that last comment.

"Oh, amazing as always, Mom," said Kudo from his spot beside a confused Hattori. "If Ai-chan was there, I don't think I would be able to tell them apart."

Hattori's eyes flickered towards Shinichi, then back to 'Haibara', who simply rolled her eyes before taking the facemask off.

"Some detective you are," Conan's voice met his ears.

"Eh?! It's you!"

"Of course it's me. What did you expect?"

For the longest moment, Hattori said nothing, just staring at him, before a teasing smirk took place on his face. "My bad, I should've known," he turned back around so he could lean against the sofa. "That girl isn't _that _short, isn't it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Conan settled with a low, dangerous tone.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they won't notice it. Not with that girlish face of yours that's almost identical to hers."

"This is a latex mask, Hattori."

"Sure, but your body complexion made Yukiko-san's work easier, right-? Ouch, ouch, ouch, cut it out!"

Yukiko giggled a bit, while Shinichi simply blinked at the sight of Conan pinching the back of Hattori's neck, twisting his hold so to have a painful result. His smile was sadistic as the detective apologized, desperately trying to get out of his grasp.

Then he saw Heiji finally breaking free, turning around and leaning over to raise the child into the air, before throwing him to his side so he could teach him a lesson. Yukiko didn't even try to stop them, just smiled amusedly. Agasa panicked a tiny bit, but stood back a safe distance away from the duo.

Shinichi just stared. He had known that Conan and the Great Detective of the West were close but...

He had never imagined they would look like that.

Kudo Shinichi's lips pressed into a thin line, yet nobody noticed, far too focused on the two boys.

Because, just then, Shinichi realized it.

_They look just like brothers._

* * *

The pier was full of monsters.

Well, technically, there were no monsters, but people disguised as terrifying creatures. Unsurprisingly, because Great Detective, Mouri Kogoro had been invited to a Halloween party, that just happened to be in March ─ that was why it said 'off-season', his daughter had pointed out before telling him there was _no way_ she was accompanying him to such a scary place.

"I'm so excited!" that's why he was stuck with her best friend instead, Suzuki Sonoko, who was wearing a witch costume.

Which he honestly wondered if it counted as a monster disguise, but not that he cared that much about it.

Some weird, grunting noises caused Kogoro to turn around. He and Sonoko stared at the zombie motioning with his head for them to move forward into the line, and they obliged without much resistance.

"Geez," he complained. "Why doesn't he just tell us with his mouth?"

"That's because he's too into his role," the woman behind them pointed out.

Kogoro was more than happy to see a woman, covering her head with a hat, standing right behind them. "Wow, a beautiful witch!"

Wrong. She was Medusa, she proved it by taking her hat off, letting him see snakes coming out of her hair, startling him badly. Not that he had much time to appreciate them, because they were next on the line.

Without much hassle, he signed his name and he entered the ship, Sonoko in tow.

Medusa was next, so she walked forward. It wasn't her who had been invited, however, as she wasn't the one to sign her name in the paper. It was the young man beside her, face covered in bandages, that handed them his invitation.

At the sight of the name they read, the woman in the reception desk was about to squeal, only for him to put a finger in front of his lips, asking her to keep quiet. She did.

The man with the woman smiled before passing him the notebook. Both workers then simply watched, in awe, as the bandaged man wrote his name:

"_Kudo Shinichi"_

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Haibara Ai had woken up. Deciding that there was nothing else to do but to lie around in bed, she had decided to get up and read a magazine.

Conan and Agasa's voices still resounded in the background when the phone started ringing.

"Sorry to call so late," it was Araide's voice the one to met her ears when she picked up. "Is Agasa-san home?"

"He isn't."

"But I hear his voice..."

"That's not his voice. It's a recording in a tape," she simply replied, turning the recording off. It was getting annoying at that point. "So, what is it?"

"Ah, I actually wanted to talk with you. Didn't you say your cold never healed? I wanted to take you to a fully-equipped, larger hospital for an examination."

Blue eyes narrowed, but still kept quiet as the doctor continued explaining his plans to her.

"Although is a sudden request, is it okay if I picked you up now?"

Haibara would have been lying if she said she didn't feel her skin crawling at his voice.

"I hope you are aware that if you take a minor out of their home without their guardian's permission it will be considered child abduction."

"Don't worry, I'll contact Agasa-san about it. If you're not comfortable, it's okay."

_... I'm definitely not comfortable._

"It's fine. They left me here alone anyways and it's pretty boring being alone."

Araide agreed and told her he would pass by in an hour to pick her up before she ended the call. Once then, the room fell into silence again, and she picked her magazine up once more.

Haibara gave it a long look, before sighing loudly. _I feel stupid, _she thought, realizing that she couldn't read. Not when the letters were far too blurry for her eyes to distinguish.

Shaking her head, her gaze focused on the stairs that went down to the basement, and frowned.

_... Just a bit more._

Her surprise was big, however, when she met with the sight of Jodie's smiling face upon opening the door, an hour later. She claimed that Araide hadn't been able to make it, so she was going to take her to the hospital herself.

Haibara agreed, even if her heart wouldn't stop pounding against her chest the moment she got inside the teacher's car.

_It will be okay, _she tried to reassure herself, as she pressed the little, almost unnoticeable earphone close to her ear. _I'm not alone._

"Are you okay? We're on our way to the doctor now," clearly sensing the little girl's uncomfortability, the English teacher asked, her kind smile still on place. "He's a very nice man. He can cure colds and such in a flash. Then you won't be in so much pain."

Haibara didn't reply, just gave the teacher a long, long look, before fixing her eyes in the rear mirror. A car was tailing them, and a face that she knew very well was driving it. Doctor Araide.

"I didn't know," the little girl then conceded. "That Death was a man, and a doctor on top of that."

"Eh?" Jodie definitely did not expect that, her smile faltering before it returned to its place, as if it had never left. "What are you talking about?"

She said nothing in reply.

"Don't worry, the place I'm taking you is a safe one. There's no need to be afraid."

"I know, I meant the man that is trailing us... Or is he really a man?" Haibara pointed out, shocking the teacher beyond belief. "You're most likely going to put me in the Witness Protection Program... Or should I say, put Haibara-san in it?"

Jodie's eyes went wide at that, and turned to look at the child sitting right beside her. "Who...?" she managed. "Who are you?"

She could almost see the smirk drawing itself in 'Haibara's' face.

"Edogawa Conan, detective."

"... C-Cool Kid?"

"Yeah," Haibara ─ _Conan _─ nodded. "I have a favor to ask, FBI agent, Jodie-sensei."

* * *

"Seems like no one saw you," said Kogoro to the shocked mummy. "So that means your alibi is not valid."

What should have been a party, had ended as a bloody murder. Just before he could give them the first clue for the game they were going to play, the host had been shot by a crossbow, a card from the team Devil stuck in place with the arrow.

"But, how...?" the mummy tried to argue. "This must be someone's scheme to frame me!"

"That's what all criminals without alibis say," Kogoro scoffed. "The culprit of this case should be card-less, alibi-less Mummy-san. You're guilty!"

"Perhaps you're wrong, Detective Mouri. The truth is still in the shadows."

Everyone started to look around, completely stunned by the voice that boomed across the room, unable to believe their ears. Because that voice just now belonged to no other than the host, the person that was supposed to be dead and whose murderer they were trying to look for.

"The voice is coming from the microphone Ghost Captain's mask!" one of them suddenly realized, looking up at the speakers over their heads.

Without wasting another second, Mouri took off running towards the deck, followed suit by Sonoko and every single person in the ship. Of course, he was the first one to arrive.

And with that, the first one to see the person standing there. "You already have all the pieces needed for this case," right in the crow's nest someone was there, holding the captain's mask close to his mouth and covering their face. "But it's really unfortunate."

"Who are you?" Kogoro demanded to know. "If you keep talking nonsense I'll come get you!"

The person laughed. "Have you forgotten me? It's me, Detective Mouri," then moved the mask aside, so they could see.

It was the Invisible Man.

"I know the real murderer who killed the Ghost Captain, Captain Kin," Mouri's eyes widened when he heard the Invisible Man's voice, for the first time and decided that, indeed, it was _not _the first time he had heard it. "Who movie producer Fukura Senzou-san really is," he took off his hat and bowed slightly. "And how the murder was committed."

He let go of the hat, allowing it to be taken away by the strong, sea breeze. Gone it was the nextsecomd, completely unnoticed. Then, he started to take all those bandages that covered his face.

Sonoko gasped, probably a bit louder than needed.

"Shining in the darkness," because there, under the gentle, silver glimmer of the full moon, stood someone that she knew _very _well. With his ever present arrogant smirk, with his piercing, all-knowing blue eyes..."Under this bright moonlight."

There _he _stood.

"Y-You are the detective brat, Kudo Shinichi?!" Kogoro exclaimed, completely taken aback.

His smirk simply widened in response.

Everyone was beyond shocked.

Just like that zombie in the background, that had just stood back until then, unnoticed by the rest of the guests of that terrifying party.

_T-That's impossible! _Vodka was frozen by shock. _That brat should've been killed by Aniki's poison more than a year ago. We even got rid of his body!_

_... That detective brat... Singani should be dead by now._

_What's going on?_

Despite it all, there was nothing he could do at the moment. He couldn't eliminate Singani with all those people around, watching.

Vodka decided to wait. He would deal with him later.

Preferably when he figured out what was going on.

* * *

Two cars parked, one right in front of the other, at the pier. And for a moment, none of the drivers, nor the child, dared to move, just stared at each other through the windshields, until the door of Jodie's car opened.

The English teacher stepped out, smile on place, waiting for Araide to do the same. "Jodie-sensei!" he did right away.

"Oh, Araide-sensei, what's up?" she exclaimed, cheerfully.

Conan did not make any attempt to move.

"That's what I wanted to ask you. What do you plan to do with that kid?"

"No, no! I only brought her out for a little ride," Jodie leaned against the hood of the car. "Unlike you, I have lots and lots of time."

"Time?"

"Doctor Araide, isn't it almost time for the trial of that murder? You better be a truthful witness."

Waiting there was just like sleeping in the lion's den, Conan decided, and he didn't like it one bit. But there was nothing he could do but to watch Jodie speaking with such a dangerous and possibly deadly individual. Even if his hands were shaking.

"Conan," the male voice ran through the earphone, causing him to give a small jump due to the surprise. "You heart rate is abnormally high."

The child in question would have rolled his eyes, if he wasn't in such a tight situation. "Did you expect me to simply sit here, relaxing until it's my time to act?" he spat at him. "Of course I'm a bit nervous."

The person on the other side did not argue. Scratch 'nervous', Conan was clearly scared, maybe terrified.

"You don't have to push yourself," the voice continued, with a soothing tone that was far from relaxing right now. "If you feel like you're in imminent danger, run away. There's nothing wrong with that."

"As if there was a escape route in an enclosed car..."

"There _is_," the voice was serious. "If you want to get out of there, just say the word and you will be out of there the next second."

His eyes slid to the side, focusing on the person on the other side of the line, before they went back to the two adults in front of him.

"Does this escape plan includes you taking any kind of risk?"

"... Possibly."

The child fell silent all of sudden, trying to pay attention at the conversation developing in front of him. Jodie had said something like Hikaru, Araide's maid, had '_pulled the trigger', _and that had confused Araide, because his father had been electrocuted instead of shot. He voiced his confusion.

And Jodie laughed at that, loudly so.

"When I said 'trigger' I meant a light trigger, not a gun trigger!"

Araide remained silent, frowning at the teacher.

"The murderer of that case set a trap, so the actual murderer was Hikaru-san. In order not to harm her, your stepmother and the police agreed to fake the report, saying that another method was used to kill your father."

"Eh?!" the doctor was more than surprised.

"And of course you didn't know! Because the police records you stole did not say any of these things."

"W-Who are you?"

The blonde, American woman held a finger in front of her mouth and, with a wink, she pronounced those words, in English:

"_A secret makes a woman, woman."_

Immediately, Araide's expressive became smooth and devoid of any emotion.

"Do you remember? These words were your last to me. In order not to forget them, I always said them... The words said by my father's murderer. Right, Chris Vinyard?"

Conan tensed, his senses becoming more alert, waiting for whatever might happen right now.

Far from being scared, Chris Vineyard let out a cold, almost sinister smirk.

"Or, should I say..."

Her hand went to her face, and she started to pull the mask of that allowed her to be Doctor Araide.

"... Vermouth?"

* * *

Silver Bullet.

That was the final clue to solve the mystery, as the werewolf had been seen drinking that, despite that doing that would mean a definite way out of the movie casting that had taken place. The reason that had happened was because the true werewolf had put his mask over the mummy's head, and who then had proceeded to follow the Captain's orders.

He was the true human among all monsters, after all. No monster on their right mind would drink wine that was supposedly meant to drive away evil.

Not to mention that there had to be, without any doubt, traces of broken glass, belonging to the mirror the werewolf had shattered before, so they wouldn't see him coming out the bathroom without his disguise.

"No..." the werewolf said, voice desperate, when Kogoro crouched so he could check the soles of his shoes. "It's not me... I didn't do it! It's all that demon's fault! Blame that demon...

"Eh?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow.

"That demon called Vermouth!"

* * *

Everything, every single thing had happened the same way Conan had predicted it.

Vermouth had taken the identity of Doctor Araide, who had barely avoided death by entering the Witness Protection Program. Apparently, the FBI had faked his death in front of her eyes, saving his life in the process.

"The real Araide is currently living a peaceful life elsewhere. Then, you did as I thought you would. You went into the Araide Hospital and began to investigate the case. I went in your room, and it was clear."

Vermouth's expression remained unchanged, though.

"Pierced by a dart was dark haired elementary school girl. You wanted to find her and kill her, right?" Jodie frowned, glancing at Conan, who sat still as a rock in her car. "Why do you want to kill this girl, whose face strongly resembles the one of the picture?"

The boy in the car could feel a chill running down his back, as he watched Vermouth's gelid smirk widen, as if amused about something he had no idea about.

"And what do the words written on the other three pictures, 'Cool Kid', 'Angel', and 'Silver Bullet' mean?"

_... Silver Bullet? _Conan couldn't help but think. _Does that mean that... that fourth photo actually...?_

He strained his ears to hear. The voice on the other line of the transmitter did not say anything.

"That kid named Conan. Why won't you kill this girl unless that boy is not around? Also, on the hijacked bus, why did you protect him?"

Of course, Vermouth did not grace her with an answer, just took out a gun out of her jacket. Jodie did the same thing and made a couple of well aimed shots.

Vermouth's gun fell a safe distance away from its owner.

"Okay, okay," Vermouth's smile did never waver, even as she raised her hands. "Such a dangerous object you have there. Did you get the Japanese police's permission to use it?"

"Of course, I'm ready for the consequences for using this," her grip on the gun tightened. "But before then, I must ask you something. Why... Why do you never age?"

Conan's eyes widened, in horror.

"What did she say?" he said, in a whisper. "What does that mean?"

He got no answer.

There was no time to press further for one because a loud sound, that Conan didn't particularly like, resounded through his ears and he saw blood, _red, flesh blood _splattering in the window right beside him.

And Jodie slumping against it, sliding until she sat on the ground, holding a hand to her stomach.

Looking up, he saw the silhouette of a person_. A snipper._

"Thank you, Calvados."

_... Calvados._

* * *

Kudo Shinichi's looked down at the murderer that had been apprehended not that long ago. By this time, Kogoro was tying him down, as to avoid to let him jump off to the sea in an attempt to escape or something as stupid as that.

"But to be able to solve the crime in such a short time..."

"As expected from Kudo Shinichi!"

"Such perfect deductions!"

The high school detective smiled, when every single living person in that ship ─ except, of course, for a grumbling Kogoro and a groaning Sonoko ─ started to clap and cheer, complimenting his amazing deduction abilities. "It's nothing," he said, even if humility did not suit him at all. "Actually, I could solve it so quickly because I used the same method as the murderer."

Kogoro and Sonoko blinked. "What?"

"I used the same method as Mr. Werewolf."

"The same method as Mr. Werewolf?" Sonoko did not understand.

"Well, he made Mr. Mummy wear a mask on top of his disguise..." Kogoro pondered. "Weren't you only wrapped in bandages?"

Shinichi closed his eyes, taking his time to make this big reveal and to build up the suspense. "This is what I mean," his hand rose to his face, and teared the mask apart.

To the shock of everyone, under the moonlight, stood none other than Hattori Heiji.

* * *

"Let's end this twenty-year reunion," her ice cold laugh resounded on his ears, as she pressed the barrel of Jodie's gun against her forehead. "It's time to say goodbye."

Conan's eyes widened, in horror, as he gazed into Vermouth's eyes, coming into the dreadful realization that, yes, she _was _going to kill her.

"Conan?" the voice on his earphones asked again, with a panicky tone. "What's going on?"

"... Jodie-sensei," he managed around his dry throat. "Jodie-sensei is about to get killed."

There was a sharp intake of air, but he paid no mind at that, as he watched the Organization member pressing the gun even more against her.

Taking a deep breath, the little boy reached for his shoes.

"Conan, stay where you are. I'm going to go get you."

"If I wait any longer, she'll die."

"Don't be so unreasonable!" the person was getting more and more anxious. "I'm telling you to stay there and-"

"Onii-chan."

The soft tone of his voice caused Shinichi to actually pause, eyes wide as he waited for his little brother to reply. And for a moment, time seemed to stop as well as he listened to the boy taking yet another deep breath, as if to calm himself down, before continuing.

"You have my back, remember?"

Shinichi swore he _saw _Conan giving him an unusual sweet, tender smile.

Before he heard the sounds of shattering glass.

"CONAN!"

The desperate yell of the older Kudo fell into deaf ears as the soccer ball knocked off the dangerous weapon away from Vermouth's grasp, and the door of Jodie's car opened to reveal what it seemed to be a small, strawberry blonde girl. The facemask was completely gone now, though.

"You..." Vermouth was shocked. "You are..."

With a smirk, the child began to tear the mask away. "Yeah," the voice didn't seem to belong to that girl.

The disguise was now gone. There, in front of Vermouth, stood a small little boy instead.

"Edogawa Conan, detective."

Though Shinichi sounded like he was a moment away from a panic attack, his brother paid no mind.

"Don't move," Conan just flipped his wristwatch open, and aimed to that dangerous, terror inducing woman. "Your body is blocking us from the sniper's rifle."

Nobody dared to move.

"Get in the car after Jodie-sensei," he demanded, making his best not to let any of his fear show in his voice. "We'll have to ask you to drive to the police station."

Vermouth's expression remained impassive, as the child urged the teacher to get inside. It turned out, however, that she couldn't move due to the pain. _Come on, there should be a way out of this..._

He focused back on the criminal's ice cold eyes, only to notice they had shifted somewhere else. Looking at the same direction, he noticed a car getting closer and closer to them. Before long, he noticed it was a taxi.

His hair stood into an end when he spotted a very familiar face stepping out, and his blood chilled on his veins when he saw _her _facing them, a determined, if scared, expression plastered in her face.

And he felt his stomach sinking into his knees when he noticed she had begun to head their way, walking slowly.

_Haibara-san... _he went pale. _I knew it. You had the tracking glasses after all._

Vermouth smirked, as if she could recognize the child everywhere.

Haibara looked at her, then at Conan, who was screaming something she paid no attention to, and curled her hands into fists.

And like so, ignoring all her fear, all instincts and each single inch of her entire being that was pleading, _screaming _at her to get away from there, from that dangerous woman, _to run away, _she ran _towards _them.

"Don't get near!" even Conan was shouting, desperation tinting his voice and his every expression. "Go back, you idiot!"

_No, Kudo-kun, _the girl did not stop, not even for a single moment. _Let me do what I must._

_This has nothing to do with you._

_That's why... That's why...!_

_You can't die. You must not die!_

"Conan! Conan, say something!" Shinichi's voice was blaring on his ear. "What's going on there?! Hey!"

But Conan couldn't answer.

He could only watch as Haibara Ai, Vermouth's target, stopped running, panting heavily after her sprint and because of the fever that had definitely spiked up, and stood there, in front of him and _her. _

"Run away, Haibara-san! Quickly!" he couldn't pay attention to anything else. "What are you doing?! Leave this place! Hurry!"

So, of course he didn't notice Vermouth moving closer to him until she had gotten hold of his two arms. With a surprised yelp, Conan desperately tried to break free from her iron-like grasp, but no avail.

She was a grown up adult. He was only a child. The result was more than evident.

His fruitless struggle grew more evident when she turned the stun-gun so it would be pointing at _him _instead. It wasn't long until he felt the prick.

The effect was instant, Conan realized with a shuddering breath as he felt his limbs becoming like lead the next second. It was so strong that he didn't even have the chance to fight the sedative, his eyelids drooping on their own accord before he could do anything else but to stare into Vermouth's cold gaze.

For a moment, however, Conan thought he saw something. He figured it was the drug messing with him.

Because he wouldn't have seen a trace of something akin to remorse otherwise, right?

"_I'm really sorry, Conan-kun."_

Then, just before all strength left his body, before his mind lost grip on clarity, Conan's tired eyes flickered towards Haibara, who just stood there, horror written all over her face.

He didn't know what kind of dots his drugged, almost delirious brain connected, but one thought, one simple, yet very disturbing thought crossed his mind before everything around him vanished...

_Ha... Hana-chan...?_

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Thanks for the idea. I will think about it.

Bry: I would probably be lying to you if I told you I know, considering that when I first started this I, naively, believed that this story could somehow be finished in fifty chapters. That's quite self-explanatory, I believe XD


	51. The Silver Bullet

**File Fifty-One: The Silver Bullet**

"Don't be so unreasonable!"

Alarmed by the panic tinting the high schooler's voice, Agasa turned away from the screen that he had set up earlier today to glance at Shinichi, who sat on the passenger seat of his beloved Beetle. He did not like what he saw.

Shinichi was pale, frown prominent on his face as he spoke to the transmitter on his ear, words rushed by some sense of urgency Agasa couldn't understand.

"Hey, Shinichi..." the professor's hand went over the teen's shoulder, so he could give him some sort of comfort.

"I'm telling you to stay there and-" but Shinichi paid no mind.

He simply focused on his little brother's sigh, awaiting for him to tell him that he understood. What he said then, however, made him freeze.

"Onii-chan."

"_Onii-chan," said the kid, sipping in a cup of coffee his mother had prepared not that long ago. "Calm down, I know it sounds a bit risky, but..."_

"_Risky?! This... This is incredibly insane!" Shinichi snapped before sighing, running his hand through his hair. "... Just forget it. Forget all of this..." his eyes narrowed. "I will personally attend that party."_

"_And you say my plan is risky," Conan scoffed. "Ah, right. I know. That isn't even a plan, just your plain, dumb impulsiveness speaking."_

"_Then what am I supposed to do?! Am I supposed to just stand back and see you commit suicide? That's what you're telling me?"_

_The child said nothing for a moment, setting the cup back into the table before staring, with an unreadable expression, at his own reflexion shown on the liquid. His brother did not say anything either, just waiting patiently for him to talk, but unwilling to change his posture._

_A tiny, timid smile caused him, for the slightless second, to waver._

"_For this crazy plan of mine to work out, it's crucial for you to be right there."_

Shinichi _swore _he saw Conan smiling at him.

"_Because there's absolutely no way I can do this without the great Heisei Holmes watching my back."_

"You have my back, remember?"

Then, the sounds of shattering glass filled his ears, and Shinichi felt his heart nearly stopping.

"CONAN!" the voice teared apart from the depths of his throat.

"Shinichi!" Agasa was now more than worried. "What's going on, Shinichi?!"

It took a moment for Shinichi to reply. "Conan is being an idiot," he said without looking at the professor, focused on the sounds he could hear.

_Calm down, _he took a deep breath, willing his head to clear up. _Out of all members, Vermouth is probably the most unpredictable one, but..._

_As long... As long as it's Conan..._

_... It will be okay. He will be okay._

That was when Conan suddenly started screaming, unusually hysterical for some reason. He was shouting at someone to run away, sounding as if he was terrified, and he didn't understand why. Shinichi was shouting at him before he had even realized it, demanding to know what was going on, but got no answer.

Until he yelled:

"Run away, Haibara-san! Quickly!"

Shinichi's eyes widened in horror. "Ai-chan is there," he breathed out.

"Eh?! Ai-kun?!"

_No, no, no... What do you think you're doing, Shiho-chan?_

_That woman... Vermouth isn't going to let you go. And you know that._

_Then... Then, why?!_

Breathing deeply and rubbing his forehead, Shinichi racked his head for a way out. There had to be one, after all.

Haibara showing up changed everything.

He did look towards the screen when Agasa gasped, frowning in confusion as he watched Conan's heart rate suddenly dropping. "_Goodnight, baby," _Vermouth's words let the high school detective realize that the little boy had been knocked unconscious somehow. Shinichi suspected it had something to do with that cursed wristwatch of his.

"_And welcome, Sherry."_

"Professor Agasa," the old man was almost worried about the seriousness of his voice. "Drive me to the place they are."

"... W-What are you going to do?"

Shinichi did not answer.

"Shinichi!"

"I don't have any other choice!" he snapped, turning to face him, a frown still present on his face, but his eyes were pleading for him to do so. "Professor Agasa!"

Agasa did not know what to do.

As the professor hesitated, Shinichi could hear Haibara telling Vermouth that she was willing to trade her life for the safety of each and every single person involved. And the woman had agreed, even if Jodie was still an exception.

"Whatever," he huffed and went to open the door. "I'm going to run there."

"Calm down, Shinichi!" Agasa managed to take hold of his arm before then. "The place where they are is far from our position. It will take you forever if you-"

"Then what?!"

Shinichi's movements suddenly came into a halt when he heard loud noises. His eyes opened, widely, horrified.

_Gunshots, _his mind supplied. In the middle of the chaos, he could even hear Vermouth calling Calvados' name, demanding for him to cease fire, which didn't make any sense, considering that the woman, for some reason unknown to him, had always hated the girl to the point of having the strong desire to kill her.

"_Move it, Angel!"_

_... Angel? Who is that? _his blood then froze on his veins when he heard, in the distance, _that _voice. _Ran?!_

What followed then was a mess of sounds of shouting, shooting and more yelling ─ and that included Akai Shuichi's name, somehow ─ that Shinichi couldn't tell apart. Then there was a demon-like snicker _very _close to Conan's ear and the sound of an engine.

Everything was silent after that.

"Shinichi, please, say something!" Agasa wasn't far from pleading. "What's going on?!"

"Conan has been kidnapped, I think."

Even if he was seriously scared because of the words that had just been spoken, Agasa was mostly confused.

Because Shinichi had slumped against the seat, a relieved sigh escaped him.

* * *

Despite it all, despite everything that had happened in that chaotic night, it was quiet. Only the sounds of the car engine, or the cold breeze that caressed their cheeks, that came from where the windows were supposed to be until they got shattered by several bullets on her escape.

But none of them were currently capable of enjoying the silence. The criminal was far too focused on driving as quickly as she could, in order to avoid capture.

And the hostage lied slumped against the passenger seat, still as a doll in the place he had been put into, completely passed out cold. A voice, his brother's, in his ear was loud, calling his name, over and over again, trying with all his might to snap him out of it.

It didn't quite reach him.

Because, in reality, he was not there, but somewhere else.

_"The culprit is you!"_

_Every single child in that room, regardless of what class they were in, focused their attention at that bespectacled, usually shy, little boy that he stood in front of, one of the adults, in the middle of lunchtime. The expression on his face was so serious that it would be almost cute for the grown-ups, if it wasn't for what he was saying._

_Two kindergarten teachers exchanged confused glances at each other, before they focused back on him, and blinked at the same time._

_Or so he guessed. One of them, the more feminine looking out the two, always let his long hair loose, flowing everywhere including his face._

_It gave out quite a creepy vibe, if he was honest. More to the reason, he had to be the culprit!_

"_Conan-kun," the other one, his teacher, moved closer and kneeled down in front of him. "What are you talking about?"_

"_He is the culprit!" he accused him. "I heard you talking the other day, Sensei. A girl from Sakura Class has disappeared. Her name is Hana-chan, right?"_

"_Hey, hey, Conan-kun, you can't just..."_

_He didn't get to end that sentence, however._

"_Eh? Did something happen to Hana-chan?"_

"_Something bad?"_

"_I bet an ugly monster ate her!"_

"_Waah! I don't want that to happen to me! No, no, no, no!" _

_Even amongst the chaos and panic that had begun to settle in, Conan's expression did not waver, just glared at the teacher in charge of Sakura Class, as he fumbled around with the Apple Class' one so they could calm all children down. Conan's teacher, however, simply sighed, taking in the mess that had been produced in less than a second so he could focus on the one in front of him._

"_Na 46-49," before he could speak, the child beat him to it. Not that he understood a word. "I saw him arriving the other day, he has a car."_

"_And what does that have to do with anything?"_

"_Hana-chan is the girl with the black hair and the braid, right? When Onii-chan came to pick me up the other day, I spotted her heading right from the gates," his eyes were wide and innocent as he spoke. "I asked a few others of her class and they saw that she often goes the other way."_

"_Which means?"_

"_That Hana-chan was trying to escape from someone else!" he exclaimed, completely convinced about his own words. "If someone caught up with her and captured her, how else would they have taken her away without anyone noticing? She must have been thrown inside a car!"_

_The teacher merely smiled at him. "But Conan-kun, even if that's true, how do you know it's Miura-san's?"_

_The infant gave the adult a look, as if he was stupid enough not to understand what he meant with that._

"_Because Hana-chan left without waiting for his older sister, who was always there to pick her up. So the person she had been running away from was definitely a teacher, and Miura-sensei is the only one that has a car!" _

_A loud laugh caused Conan to blink, confusedly, and to give his teacher a confused look. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized, once he realized what he had done. "You did an excellent job, Conan-kun, but I think there are a few things missing in your argument."_

"_What?" he was almost annoyed._

"_That's all circunstancial evidence, you need more concrete proof. Not to mention that, even if I don't have a car, Miura-san always gives me a ride after school, so I should've noticed if he kidnapped someone on my way home, right?"_

_Little Conan's eyes were wide as he realized he had most likely been wrong, before visibly deflating. Sensei was right, that theory right there made absolutely no sense at all._

"_Alright then, now that's settled, why don't we go apologize to Miura-san for saying all those ugly things to him?"_

"_Right..."_

_And he did, even if reluctantly. Sighing loudly, he bowed slightly in front of the clueless Sakura Class teacher even if, deep down, he was only thinking about how far he was from his detective father and brilliant brother._

_But, ever since he had heard about the case, the little child had made a decision. If he wanted to be a great detective in the future, he had to start somewhere._

_Which meant no help from his beloved Onii-chan._

_So he didn't give up and, when naptime came around, he chose the spot closest to the door and, carefully, slipped away from the room when everyone was asleep and the teacher not in sight. _

_Hadn't his Onii-chan said that in order to figure out the truth, investigation is always needed?_

"_I wonder if Onii-chan will be surprised when I solve it," he mumbled to himself, giggling softly to himself, as he tiptoed through the halls._

_Successfully sneaking inside the classroom, Conan took his time to study with his eyes every single spot, hoping that there was some clue waiting to be discovered. He shuffled through the cabinets, the toys and even the several drawings._

"_Onii-chan and Dad make it seem much easier," he huffed, crawling from under a table after another fruitless search._

_Sighing loudly for the second time that day, little Conan seriously considered giving up and going back to his futon ─ he was a bit sleepy, after all ─ and turned around to leave, a dejected pout present on his face._

_But he decided against it the moment his eyes spotted something. There, next to the door, was a table. On top of it, there was something he had forgotten to look into._

_The clay figurines that Sakura Class had made a few days ago. _

"_Around the time she disappeared," Conan noted._

_Eyes glimmering with hope, the child rushed to continue his detective work. "Hana-chan, Hana-chan..." he looked through every single of the names that each figurine had been labeled with. "Ah, here it is!"_

_A cat, Conan realized, with a slump of his shoulders. Nothing unusual there._

_At least, until he lifted it up on his hands. "It's light," for good measure, he compared with all others to realize that, yes, this cat weighed significantly less than all others._

_Remembering how his brother and his father would act in similar situations, he knocked his knuckles against it to realize that it was strangely hollow. Why though? He had no idea._

_So, he stared at it for a long while._

_Conan's expression didn't change as he simply let it fall._

_His eyes didn't leave the floor, or more precisely the tiny little pieces of broken clay that lied in front of him, scattered across the corner of that empty, silent room. Noticing something that shouldn't be there, the little child crouched in front of the mess he had just created._

_There, in the middle of it all, was a tiny little piece of paper, folded neatly._

_His fingers reached over to grab it._

_And when they did, he noticed something. A word, written in bright, green ink, met his curious eyes._

"_Onee-chan"_

"_Conan-kun!" he had managed to hide the note inside his pocket by the time his teacher had arrived, alerted by the loud noise. He barely batted an eye as the man scolded him, loudly._

_It wasn't until he was back on his futon, all alone even if the room filled with children ─ all fast asleep ─ that curiosity won out, and he finally read the rest of words that he discovered upon unfolding the note, written in the same green ink._

"_Please, listen to my words._

_In this big classroom, filled with so many people, I feel completely alone. I miss you so much, Onee-chan. I desperately want this day to end so I can see you again. So I can have dinner with you, feel the gentle touch in every bit of food that you cook for me, even if it does not taste good..."_

_The rest was written in black, causing the child to wonder if the girl had suddenly run out of ink or something._

"_Did you know, Onee-chan? Today is White Day. Yet, on a day like this, I... _

_I don't know, it's messed up, isn't it?_

_Please, don't hate me for this._

_There are lots of things I still want to tell you, but I guess I'm far too shy to tell you about them. I need to take my time, be patient with myself until I can say them._

_Please, don't forget me._

_I love you so much and I hope that you feel the same for this girl that, even though she seems to think so highly about herself, will always remain loyal to you._

_So thank you for being generous enough to give me a place in your heart. I will always treasure this strong friendship the two of us share._

─ _Hana."_

_To say that Conan had absolutely no clue of what all that meant was the understatement of the century, but he didn't let this bother him._

_Instead, a bright, childish grin drew itself on his face._

_Somehow, the feeling of not knowing was exciting._

"... nan. Conan, please, _wake up._"

That voice, which he would recognize everywhere in a heartbeat, filtered through the haze in his mind, causing his eyelids to flutter.

"Wait, don't move," before he could open them, Shinichi quickly stopped him. "Pretend you're sleeping."

He did as he was told without any protest, and remained there, quietly still, taking in every single thing he could feel and hear.

His fingers were resting against something, a smooth material. Just like his back. A car seat, he eventually recognized it.

And there was someone breathing ─ gasping for air ─ right beside him.

"_Okay, Boss," _the sound of the voice belonging to _that_ woman, speaking in English, let him know everything he had to know.

_Vermouth, _he shuddered at the realization. _I'm in a car. Alone. With Vermouth._

_... Why am I not dead, again?_

All thoughts came into a sudden stop when he heard some sort of melody, sad and, in some way, familiar. It didn't take long until his mind processed that information, and came into the conclusion that it was just her pressing some buttons on a phone.

Then, he heard some shifting and felt it. Her gaze on his form, even the smile on her face, and he had to do his best to compose himself. _You got so far, you can't cower away just now, _he chanted over and over in his mind, convincing himself that everything was going to be okay. _I'm not alone, _he remembered. Professor Agasa and his brother were out there, after all.

Her hand rested on his shoulder, before going stiff with a gasp.

Something cut through his shirt ─ _a knife? ─ _and Conan knew she had seen everything. A heartbeat mapping system with electric waves, together with a wave recorder and emitter caused the woman to gasp, completely taken aback, before leaning to disconnect the device he had on him.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Vermouth froze at the warning, slowly raising her head to meet with a pair of piercing blue eyes. "If you unplug that, it will seem like my heart has stopped beating. Then the email address of the message you just sent to your boss, will be immediately sent to my partners. Then, it would be a matter of time until the direction and name of your boss is revealed, right?"

Vermouth just looked at him, eyes wide in shock, as he explained that his original plan was to be taken to some of her superiors while dressing as Sherry, but his plan got obviously ruined when Jodie got shot.

"Then, wouldn't it be better if you just took me to your boss?" he frowned, tugging lightly the wires. "Unless, of course, you want to cooperate and tell the police every single thing. Every detail concerning the Black Organization."

"Ah, really?" she scoffed. "Why would I do that?"

The child paused, gazing into his eyes for a while, before he smirked softly.

"Because I can tell," he simply replied. "I can tell you don't want to keep doing this."

Blinking owlishly, Vermouth simply stared back at the little boy, shock written all over her face, while he didn't break eye contact. "If you cooperate, they can get you into the Witness Protection Program," his gaze, sincere and innocent, remained impassive. "There is always another way."

It took a moment more than needed for Vermouth to recover, before the same venomous smirk came back to her lips. "Is that so?" she let out a chuckle. "What makes you think I'm not comfortable with the position I'm in?"

Conan looked troubled for a second, coming into the realization that he really didn't know what had made him think that. "I'm not dead?" he offered, unsure.

Laughing a bit ─ even if that laugh didn't fail to make Conan's skin crawl ─ Vermouth flipped her phone close. "Seems like I lost," she sighed. "I'll let Sherry go."

The little boy did not say anything, wondering if he could trust this woman to fulfill his promise. Not that he had much time to wonder, though, as she, for some reason, pointed at him with his phone.

Conan blinked.

Before gas was shot at his face, causing him to cough, and to try and move his head away from it. "It's only sleeping gas," she informed him, gripping his arms tightly before he could pull the wires.

"Stupid," the gas was filling the car, and he had absolutely no idea of what to do so he could prevent the inevitable. "You'll breathe it in too!"

"Yeah, this is a bet," Conan's eyelids were already dropping. "If you wake up first, you can call the police to catch me, and give the wave signals to them to find out where the boss lives."

Vermouth's face was beginning to blur, and the child had no idea if it was the gas blocking his vision, or his senses giving up on him.

"But if I wake up first, you know what I'll do."

Like that, the lights got switched off.

* * *

"Damn it!" Shinichi cursed, loudly, when he realized that all his attempts of waking the child up were completely in vain. "He's completely out."

"We need to hurry," said Agasa, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, as he drove through the forest they had been parked at. "We need to go and call Conan up!"

Shinichi nodded and went to focus on the sounds coming from his headphones, wondering if Vermouth had passed out as well. _Highly unlikely, _he frowned. _Such an unpredictable woman would never pull out something like that without having a plan..._

A plan that clearly involved bullets, he noticed with a startled jump at the sound of a gunshot.

The horror must have shown on his face, because Agasa quickly asked what was wrong, to which Shinichi simply shakily shook his head.

"... Singani-kun," the playful, female voice caused Shinichi to shiver. "Still alive, huh?"

It took a moment for the high school detective to answer.

"I hope you remember," there was such a cold, dangerous tone in his words that caused the professor to glance at him momentarily. "Those words I said to you that time when we met in New York."

There was a chuckle, between pained gasps, before every single bit of sound suddenly died down. The next moment, all signals coming from Conan's side suddenly came into a stop, badly scaring the professor.

"Don't worry," the teenager was fast to reassure him. "Conan is okay. She probably just smashed all of his devices before escaping."

Agasa let out the air he didn't even know he was holding, before focusing back into the road and, eventually, Jodie's stolen car came into view. The Beetle had barely skidded into a halt when the high schooler hopped out and hurried closer to it.

As he had expected, Conan was still there, breath even, covered by Vermouth's jacket that she had most likely put over him with a motherly touch ─ the detective had _shivers _when the word 'motherly' crossed his mind.

By the time the professor had gotten out the car, Shinichi had already pulled Conan out from the already shattered window. The old man couldn't help but notice the way the detective's eyes softened, gazing down at the child that was sound asleep, _safe_ and leaning against his chest, with a fond smile on his lips.

He couldn't remember last time he had seen Shinichi smiling so openly.

It didn't last long. Sighing loudly, he turned to the professor. "Here," he then passed the kid to him, before taking Vermouth's jacket from the little boy. "Take him to the car, I'll catch up in a moment."

Agasa nodded, as he watched Shinichi take his own jacket off so he could drape it over his brother. "What are you going to do?" he asked, genuinely confused by his actions.

"There's no telling who will find this car first," his face adopted that serious look again. "I can't leave any trace of Conan's involvement behind."

Professor Agasa had no time to say anything else, just cluelessly watched as Shinichi turned around and started to wipe every single place of the car, probably in an attempt to erase every one of the child's fingerprints.

Conan was a bit too heavy on his arms, yet the old professor couldn't help but stare, still standing in that place, amazed by how quickly Shinichi was doing his job.

_Like a professional, _he couldn't help but think.

* * *

"It's all over."

Heiji smiled in relief, leaning over the edge of the ship, eyes wandered away to the horizon as he listened to Kudo. Thankfully, Conan was safe and sound, currently sleeping in the backseat of Agasa's Beetle. Vermouth was nowhere to be seen, but had promised she couldn't chase after Sherry anymore.

He was curious as to how Kudo knew they could somehow trust that woman, but pushed it aside. Maybe he would ask later.

Not that he thought he would ever get a straight answer from his fellow high school detective, though.

"How are things over there?" Shinichi asked.

"Ah, the culprit has been apprehended," he stated. No need to tell him about the case since Shinichi was already aware of it ─ in fact, it had been Shinichi who had given out the deductions Heiji made because the boy couldn't copy his accent to save his life. The voice had been broadcasted by the special necktie Agasa had created in record time. "Occhan is talking with the police over the phone and your mother... She's enjoying herself, I guess."

There was a sigh and Heiji knew Shinichi was most likely rubbing his face, to which he couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I guess everything is in order," then, he decided. "Alright then, thank you for everything, Hattori."

Shinichi was about to end the call.

"Wait," he stopped at the sound of Hattori's voice.

"What is it?"

"If you ever need help, you can call me."

The detective from Tokyo paused at that, confused for a moment.

"You don't have to fight an entire Organization on your own, Kudo," Heiji continued, serious, then smirking a bit. "I'll ask Conan for your number later."

"Are you sure? I might be a murderer, remember?"

Of course Kudo knew about Heiji's previous suspicions, the Osakan detective realized, with a brief roll of his eyes.

"But you are not, right?" still, Hattori's smile did not vanish. "You're a good guy, Kudo, I know. Detective instinct speaking and everything."

"Just..." another sigh. "Whatever you say, Hattori. See you."

The line was cut after that, yet Hattori didn't give it much thought. Just shrugged, before turning to watch the wide sea in front of him, calm for the first time today.

The kid was safe, after all. That was all that mattered for now.

He caught the sight of something by the corner of his eye, so Hattori turned to see a woman standing right next to him, a bright smile plastered all over her face.

"Ah, it's you," Heiji recognized him as the woman that had been in the reception desk before. "You were a big fan of Kudo, right?" he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for disappointing you, I don't really know where he is so..."

Her smile only grew wider, confusing the Great Detective of the West. Then, she moved closer to his ear and whispered something:

"I do not require your services any longer, Hattori Heiji."

She stepped back, leaving Hattori to stare right at her, blinking several times as she giggled, then bowed slightly.

"Thank you for your hard work," the woman said to him, before turning around and leaving.

Hattori Heiji had never felt that clueless before.

* * *

Conan woke up with a start.

Heart pounding against his chest, the little boy's head spun from side to side, taking into his surroundings, completely soaked in cold sweat. He was leaning down in the back seat of a car, and that caused him to shiver, not failing to remember Vermouth's cold laugh as she watched him go to sleep.

Where was she taking him? What happened with all those gadgets he had with him? Did she-?

He couldn't help but gasp when a hand fell on his leg. "It's alright," he blearily blinked at the source of that reassuring voice and realized that his brother was there, leaning closer to him from his spot in the passenger seat. "You're okay. Nobody is going to hurt you."

Conan took a moment to recover his breath, but Shinichi did not rush him, just waited patiently as the child gradually calmed down, his terrified gaze not leaving his, until he slowly sat up. Upon realizing he wasn't in Jodie's car any longer, but Agasa's, the boy finally understood what his brother was doing there.

Even Agasa flashed him a brief smile before he focused back on the road.

His brother's jacket had fallen, and only then he noticed it. He must have put it on him.

He could have sighed in relief until, little by little, all other memories started to fill his head.

Haibara's terrified face popped up in his mind and he froze. "Ai-chan is okay," noticing Conan's pale face, Shinichi filled for him. "Ran called the Professor a few moments ago to say that she's staying at her house. Apparently, her fever had gotten worse because of everything that had happened."

"... Ran-neechan?" Conan blinked.

Shinichi shook his head. "She saw the photos on Jodie-sensei's bathroom and jumped inside the trunk of her car," he explained. "When she heard gunshots she got out and tackled Ai-chan into the ground. Honestly, that crazy woman..."

Conan fell oddly silent, taking into his words for a moment, before his gaze fell on the window beside him, pensive for some reason.

Shinichi just watched him, genuinely curious about what was going through his mind.

"Onii-chan," his voice was almost audible.

"What is it?"

The boy hesitated, for motives that his brother couldn't hope to understand, gently pressing his face against the cold, cold glass of the window. His brows furrowed together, as if struggling to put into words his thoughts, and his conflicted eyes never met his gaze.

And Shinichi just waited.

"Was it..." Conan's mouth went dry all of sudden. "Was it my fault that you got involved with _them_?"

That... Shinichi definitely did not see _that _coming.

And then, it was silent. So silent that even the sounds of their heartbeats could be heard in the middle of the quiet night.

Conan took a deep breath and, gathering all courage he could manage, finally met Shinichi's eyes and detected it. They were wide and surprised, but there was _something _hidden behind them that told the child that he had most likely hit the nail in the head.

It wasn't long until Shinichi's laugh filled the silence.

But it was _too _loud, Conan couldn't help but notice.

"Are you still half asleep?" said the older Kudo, grinning widely ─ _a bit too widely_. "You're talking nonsense, Conan."

The youngest's expression did not shift besides the slight narrowing of his eyes. "Ah, is that so?" his tone was dull and tired.

Even Shinichi, deep down, knew his words hadn't been believed. That didn't mean he was going to give up that easily.

"Maybe you're tired, it's well past your bedtime already," Shinichi wasn't sure that _Conan _had a bedtime, but he still hoped he did ─ hell, the sun was about to come up in a few hours. "Try to get some rest in the meantime. The Professor's home is still a bit too far from here."

Yet Conan didn't. Just sat there, motionless, his empty, exhausted eyes not breaking away from his reflexion in the window. His brother, far from reassured, had to force himself to look away from the child's overall exhaustion ─ physically and, understandably, emotionally.

Shinichi didn't know what exactly the child had remembered, but judging from the question just now, he had quite the good idea. So, with a sigh of his own, rested his elbow on the door and his cheek on his fist. "Say, Professor," he said, softly to the driver.

Conan was far too immersed in his own mind to notice them talking.

Naturally, given how out of it the kid was, he didn't even realize the car had stopped until the door beside him opened.

"Just... What are you doing?" Conan's eyebrow rose on its own accord when he realized that Shinichi was kneeling down in the sidewalk, back facing him, and a bright grin directed at him over his shoulder.

"I don't trust you enough to walk up the stairs without passing out and breaking your neck."

"... Stairs?"

The older detective did nothing but snicker at his confusion, and the child frowned, already annoyed at him, before reluctantly complying and climbing up his back. "Alright," despite everything, Shinichi was still smiling, as he straightened up and bounced a little, shifting his hold so both of them would be more comfortable.

Burrowing his face against his shoulder, Conan couldn't help but smile a tiny little bit, failing to remember last time he had been carried like that.

There was one time he could reminisce, however, when he was younger. He might have bruised his knee, he didn't remember, but recalled being carried by Shinichi, just like this time, as they walked back home after being picked up from daycare, and Ran giggling at the cute scene beside her.

He hadn't been too preoccupied at that, as he was far more enchanted with the sight of the cherry blossom petals, beautifully dancing all around them.

Conan could have laughed. Things were way simpler back then.

_And it wouldn't have changed if I... _his fists clenched, without meaning to, around Shinichi's shirt. _If only I didn't..._

The older brother noticed, but did not give out any signs of it besides the way he glanced briefly at the young boy, before looking back to the road.

He stood right in front of Mouri's Detective Agency and, while he now understood what he meant with stairs, Conan had absolutely no clue as to _why _he was there. After all, he had been told he was going to spend the night at the Professor's.

Shinichi knocked on the door, an action that was followed by some shuffling inside before it opened. Ran's face came into view, and soon her neutral expression morphed. Her mouth, which had opened to speak had gone slack with shock, which filled all inches of her body, promptly making it freeze.

The childhood friend she had not expected to see there pulled out a sheepish, almost apologetic, smile.

"... Conan-kun," upon noticing the boy he was carrying, she began to fuss over him, completely forgetting about Shinichi. "Are you okay? The Professor said you were almost kidnapped."

"I'm fine, don't worry," he managed a tired, hopefully reassuring, smile. "Shinichi-niichan got me out of there."

Shinichi flinched.

"Eh? Shinichi-"

"Anyway," the older Kudo interrupted her. "I'm sorry for this, Ran, but would you please take him in, again?"

Ran blinked, confused, but then let him pass without a word. "He can use my bed," she said, as they made their way through the house. "Ai-chan was so adamant in not taking mine I had no choice but to use Conan-kun's futon."

At the thought of that stubborn little girl Shinichi wondered why wasn't _this _equally stubborn little boy loudly protesting at his point. But he understood right away upon realizing he could feel his calm breathing on his neck and the dead weight of his head on his shoulder. The kid must be dozing off at this point. _Good._

Upon arriving at Ran's room, Shinichi made his way inside and sat on the bed, letting his little brother slide down into the mattress. Unexpectedly, brilliant, bleary blue eyes were on him the instant he was set down.

"Just get some rest," Shinichi just smiled at him, placing a hand over his head.

"... If I fall asleep... you will just leave, right?" the older brother's smile faltered slightly. "That's... That's your favourite move, after all."

"Hey, you make it sound as if I actually liked doing that."

"... Don't make it look like you do, then."

This earned him an exasperated sigh, to which he didn't even blink. Just stared up at Shinichi, who seemed to hesitate, before he let out a smile.

"I need to talk with Ran about something and I will be back, okay?"

Conan couldn't bring himself to trust his words, not after everything that had happened throughout last year, but he couldn't help the words he whispered after that either.

"... Promise me you will."

"I promise," he knew if he shouldn't have believed his words, or his widening grin, yet he did.

With a ruff of his hair, Shinichi stepped out to leave, so Conan turned to see him. Only then, he noticed that right beside his bed was a futon, and a girl sleeping inside, a wet rag keeping the fever under that had most likely spiked up after everything they had gone through.

The door closed softly behind the detective.

Yet, Conan did not react.

Because he would remember whenever he looked at her.

The black haired girl named Hana that had disappeared four years ago.

_"I think I know where she is, Sensei!"_

Groaning, Conan burrowed his face against the pillow. He seriously didn't feel good when all those random bits of information that had been repressed for years suddenly surfaced, leaving him partly confused, partly wishing that he hadn't remembered at all.

Peeking over Ran's pillow, Conan studied Ai for a moment.

Though her face was pale and her cheeks flushed, her breathing was even.

She was _breathing_. Safe. _Alive._

_So you got out of it alive, huh? _his gaze softened. _... We all did, somehow._

Willing his mind to just, just _stop_, Conan focused on her. Her deep breathing as she slept, peacefully, and her chest steadily rising and falling, in an almost rhythmic motion.

_Everyone..._

Rising and falling. Rising and falling...

_... is safe..._

... Rising...

Conan wouldn't remember ever closing his eyes the next morning.

"Sorry for bothering you, Ran," from the other side of the door, the teen detective apologized to his childhood friend. "I know we were supposed to take him to the Professor's for the night, but..."

Ran shook her head immediately. "It's okay, this _is _Conan-kun's home," she replied, moving towards the kitchen. Shinichi followed, without a word. "I feel a bit bad, though."

The high school detective did not understand, so he just owlishly blinked as she went to fill a pot with cold water.

"I need to take care of Ai-chan, so I will keep coming in and out of that room," she explained, walking right past him and back to the door of her bedroom. "I hope I don't wake him up without meaning to. He looked so worn out..."

"Ah," she was taken aback when he seemed to snicker. "It's alright."

"Why?"

Without any further word, Shinichi opened the door for her.

She blinked in surprise at the sight of the young boy, deeply asleep on her bed, arm dangling over the edge, mouth slightly open and even a small, almost unnoticeable, amount of drool over her pillow ─ he would most definitely going to be _so _embarrassed if he ever found out he did that.

Shinichi took the bowl from her hands so she moved closer, and couldn't help but giggle, as she wiped his mouth with her sleeve. His slumber remained untouched, even as she sat beside him and tenderly stroked his hair.

She couldn't remember last time she had seen him so childlike, so tranquil.

"That's why I brought him here," his brother whispered while dipping Haibara's rag into the water. "Knowing him, he wouldn't get any wink of sleep if he didn't see for himself that we were all safe. You, me, Ai-chan over here..."

Ran laughed a bit at that, as she fixed the blankets all around the sleeping child. "That's _so _like Conan-kun," she expressed. "He's so stubborn sometimes."

"Most of the time," he carefully set the wet rag over Haibara's forehead. "If not every single waking second of his life," his eyes lingered in the little girl and let out a chuckle. "Not that this small lady is any different."

His childhood friend blinked. "Is that so?" she didn't miss the way the detective winced. "You seem to know Ai-chan pretty well, even if you met her only a couple of times."

He forced a laugh, and hoped it didn't sound as fake as it did in his ears. "Conan talks a lot about her," he lied. "That kid definitely has a crush on her."

Shinichi could have sworn that Ran's eyes narrowed for a moment there. "I know, right?" but then she giggled, so he decided he had just imagined it. "Sonoko thinks he likes Ayumi-chan, though."

Laughing a bit more, Shinichi finally stood up before sitting between his friend and his younger brother, taking a moment to really appreciate the silence, which he hadn't realized until now that he seriously needed. There, with Ran at his side and the two kids, who slept peacefully ─ acting, for once, like the children they were supposed to be ─ Shinichi couldn't help but genuinely smile.

Her hand gently rested on top of his, their fingers tangling with each other, letting him know that her feelings were exactly the same, even without having to look at her.

He would give anything for this moment to last forever.

"You will leave again, right?" but of course, the same question came through. "Suddenly, without giving out an explanation."

Shinichi was silent, his smile fading slightly as her grip on his hand tightened.

"I want to wait for you, Shinichi. I really do, but..." he didn't like the sorrow in her tone. "I need to know what's going on. This clearly wasn't an ordinary case of child abduction, was it?"

The teen frowned. "And I really want to tell you, Ran," he said to her, pain evident in his voice. "But it's..."

"Too dangerous, I get that already," her intense look fell on his face, but he didn't even dare to look back at her. "But, at this point, it doesn't only involve you. It also involves Conan-kun and Ai-chan, and I don't want them to get hurt. So please, _please, _Shinichi."

He still didn't look at her.

"You don't have to do this alone."

"... But I have to," he closed his eyes. "If more people get involved, more people will be harmed. And I _don't _want that."

"You're only human, Shinichi. You can't protect everyone on your own."

Shinichi knew she was probably right, but that didn't mean he would be willing to accept it. Because he was certain that this, _this _was the right way. In order not to let moments of peace like this one disappear, he had to do this.

And he was willing to risk everything for them.

Ran sighed, tiredly, and stood up to get some more water for Haibara, not without giving him a last, resigned look, before walking out the room. She most likely knew he wasn't going to be there any longer by the time she returned.

And she wasn't completely wrong. Once she had disappeared from his sight, Shinichi let out a heavy sigh, not daring to give a look towards Conan's direction. _Sorry, Conan, _he silently apologized for breaking his promise, and closed his eyes.

If he looked, even if it was a swift glance, Shinichi knew he wouldn't be able to leave.

Just as he was about to stand up, something pulled from the hem of his shirt. His eyes instinctively darted to see what was holding him down, and soon he realized his mistake.

Tiny fingers were grasping the fabric. Their owner had shifted, curling around his body and lightly pressing his forehead against his shirt.

"... Don't leave..." faintly, Shinichi made out a few mumbled words and, then, he noticed that his eyebrows were furrowed, even in sleep.

His big brother instincts kicked in soon enough, causing him to run his hand through Conan's sleep-mushed hair.

"Never."

Conan's face visibly relaxed.

* * *

"We lost because of Akai Shuichi?"

Vermouth hummed briefly, lowering herself to sit in the ground, inside the safety of a small phone booth. "I bumped into him and he broke three of my rib bones," she said to Gin, through painted pants, before looking down at her leg, which was bleeding.

That had been the price to pay to escape from the little trap that boy had set her into.

"T-The boss said that he might turn out to be our Silver Bullet," she continued. "He's to be feared."

Gin laughed, coldly, from the other side of the phone. "A Silver Bullet that can destroy us in one hit does not exist," he scoffed. "Akai Shuichi will eventually meet the same destiny that nosy high school detective suffered."

Vermouth remained silent and closed her eyes.

Then she saw him, looking at him with those determined, sharp blue eyes as she held on her arm, just like Ran, preventing her from falling into her death.

"_For saving someone, a logical reason is not necessary," _he had said to her next time they met, smiling a bit, before continuing his way towards Sherry's lab.

Asking for Gin to come pick her up and ending the call, Vermouth let out something between a sigh and a laugh. She should have expected this kind of outcome. He _was _Cool Kid, after all.

"_Are you okay, Sensei?"_

_For the first time she could remember, Vermouth was in a loss of words. Her belwireded gaze fell on the child in front of her, who sat against the wall, hugging his knees tightly and looking undoubtedly scared._

_But it was his bright blue, wide and innocent eyes that shocked her the most. They were looking right at her._

_No, right through her._

_The reason why he would be worried about her, despite his current situation, was completely beyond her._

"_You look sad," the child stated, blatantly honest, as his piercing gaze continued to study her. "Why are you doing this if it's clear that you don't want to?"_

Vermouth smiled at the memory, clearly amused by the fact that, all this time, Cool Kid had barely changed at all.

_The one that can pierce our hearts... could prove to be either of those two brothers._

_I wonder which one is our long-awaited Silver Bullet._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Yeah, I have read that fanfic before and I really liked it. I don't know if I will do that movie, though. Even if I don't, however, I already have plans for both cast meeting in the future.

Bry: I don't know, it's still a possibility, I guess. Just kidding, I'm not _that _evil... Am I? XD


	52. The Calm Before the Storm

**File Fifty-Two: The Calm Before the Storm**

When Shinichi's blue eyes fluttered open the next day, dull confusion washed over him in waves, unable to instantly comprehend what he was doing leaning sideways in Ran's bed, or the warm puff of air in his neck. Sitting down slowly, however, he saw that Conan was sound asleep at his side.

And there was a duvet over his shoulders. His hand moved towards it and gently touched the fabric.

_Ran, _he thought fondly, face warming up a little at the thought of actually having dozed off in such a place.

Stretching, Shinichi stood up and glanced at the children, an irrational warmth blossoming on his chest as he gazed down at them while they slumbered, so placidly ─ _when was the last time these two had a break, anyway?_

Smile still in place, Shinichi quietly left the room. Gingerly closing the door behind him, the detective turned around.

Only to meet with wide-eyed, pale-faced Mouri Kogoro.

The boy blinked twice, wondering why he had such a bewildered expression on his face, it finally dawned on him what the scene must look like in his eyes.

It was morning. Shinichi had just walked out of his beloved, teenage daughter's room. And considering that the man probably didn't know Ai and Conan were there, it might as well have looked as if they had been alone_. All night._

Now it was the turn for Shinichi to grow pale.

"I... I swear I can explain this."

_Noisy,_ that was Haibara Ai's first thought as she blinked her eyes open, causing her to sit up, wondering what in the world was happening.

Why was there a man yelling so loudly behind the door? It sounded particularly like Kogoro. Another voice was stuttering ─ _Shinichi-san?_ ─ but it was muffled by the angry, older detective.

The sounds stopped all of sudden, and the door opened. Ran stood there, annoyance written all over her face as she motioned to her father to look inside, who dumbly blinked before calming down.

When her eyes fell on Haibara, her expression changed dramatically. "Ai-chan," upon realizing she was awake, a bright smile made its way into her face. "How are you feeling?"

Without waiting for an answer ─ that she most likely wasn't going to have, anyway ─ Ran rushed her way and sat on her legs, the back of her hand instantly pressing against Haibara's cheek.

Dimly she noticed Kogoro giving Shinichi a stern look, saying something to him before leaving, the teen reluctantly following after him. She paid no mind at that, only finding herself able to stare, eyes round and wide, at the girl gazing at her, tenderly.

"Your fever went down. Isn't that great, Ai-chan?"

And, for a fleeting moment, she saw _her. _The same sweet smile and gentle eyes.

"_I already contacted the police," _and she had been so fearless, too, as she shildeded the little girl with her own body from Vermouth's bullets. None had hit, but the act had been admirable, nonetheless. "_Just endure a little longer, please!"_

So Ai's lips pressed against each other, eyes darting away, almost as if she might go blind if she kept staring at her bright smile.

"... Thank you," Ran blinked, confusedly, as she whispered. "You saved me."

It took a moment more than strictly necessary for the older girl to process her words, before she giggled. "There's nothing to be thankful for," Haibara looked back at her, startled, when Ran moved some of her hair away from her eyes, kindness showing in every single of her motions. "You're safe, Ai-chan. That's all that matters to me."

Ai didn't know what to say.

Some shuffling beside them saved her from having to offer her one. Curious about it, both girls turned to see the boy sitting up on top of Ran's bed, hair mushed in a complete mess, tirely rubbing his eyes as he looked around, in sleepy confusion. Ran giggled at the sight.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," the older girl smiled. "It's almost twelve already."

He barely nodded, before yawning loudly. "But don't we have school today?" he wondered.

"Yeah, I decided to skip for today and called in sick for both of you. I told Kobayashi-sensei you caught Ai-chan's cold, so you better stick to that story, okay?"

Conan agreed easily. It had been a rough night for all of them.

With that, and another smile, Ran left them alone in her room. A long silence settled in with the girl gone, which Haibara didn't even try to break, simply watched the boy, who looked around dazely, as if he had just woken up, then let out a heavy sigh.

_So he left after all, huh?_

"Who would have believed it," Conan's eyes flickered to the girl upon hearing her chuckling, teasingly. "That the great child detective, Edogawa Conan, was not a morning person... Even if it barely counts as morning at this point."

He scowled at her. "Everyone has a thing or two that people know nothing about," he shrugged. "In fact, there aren't so many people out there that actually know our true identities. Especially you."

Haibara was a bit confused, not understanding what was all of that about.

"Haibara Ai, Sherry... And Miyano Hana?"

Her eyes flew open, staring at him with a bewildered expression. The smile in Conan's face was now long gone, replaced by a very serious expression as his gaze pierced right through him.

"I attended the same daycare center you did, even if we never exchanged a word," he shrugged. "Kudo Conan, Tulip Class. You're actually a year older than me, aren't you?"

Something passed by her eyes, that Conan wasn't able to read, before she broke eye contact. "Not Miyano," she said. "Hirota Hana."

"... So what is your real name?" he asked, genuinely curious, as he knew for a fact that her family name was actually Miyano.

Her eyes, still fixed on the blankets, narrowed. "That's none of your business, Kudo-kun."

"Ah, sorry," he was a bit taken away.

He wondered if he had stuck his nose where it didn't belong ─ which wouldn't be _that _unusual ─ but couldn't realize exactly where. So he decided to leave that topic altogether, as he didn't really want to press the girl further.

Especially when he could see something akin to pain behind her conflicted icy blue eyes.

* * *

Shinichi was in deep trouble.

But he did his best not to let it show on his face, and managed to keep a straight expression, unwavering under Kogoro's unusually stern and scary look.

Mouri had told him he wanted to talk, and his gut told him this wasn't about Ran anymore.

"Who is Vermouth?"

Frankly speaking, the teenage boy wasn't expecting such a name coming out from _that _mouth. And his surprise, and equal horror, must have shown on his face, because Kogoro leaned forward, hands violently hitting the table.

"That person sent an invitation for you, and you sent the other detective brat to take your place," Kogoro pressed further. "And now it turns out both of those kids almost got kidnapped and you show up in my home. There is no way none of that is actually connected."

Keeping his lips tightly pressed against each other, Shinichi's eyes slid to the side, an action he had seen in criminals that are clearly guilty, yet unable to speak. Kogoro took it as a cue to continue.

"Your evasive behavior for the last year has been weird at best, so I wanted to investigate on my own," he continued. "For that, I tried to look into that case from four years ago. When Conan got kidnapped and your parents decided to fake his death."

"So?"

"They are gone. All files, gone. As if that case hasn't happened at all," his frown deepened, hands curling into fists. "It was _you. _You took them."

"You can't accuse me without proof, Detective Mouri," closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Shinichi stood up. "Besides, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about."

"You damn well know what I'm talking about!" Kogoro's voice rose. "Weren't you the one that helped the police to take down that group of child traffickers that teacher belonged to? So, why is _it _gone now? Wasn't that case closed already?"

Shinichi shrugged, closing his eyes and sliding his hands inside his pockets.

"Unless there was no connection between those two cases, the evidence was faked and testimonies from the members forced. Only someone inside the investigation could have done something like that."

"You're accusing me again. That's considered defamation."

The older man studied him, and his non-cooperative posture, before letting out a long, exhausted sigh, slowly sitting back into his desk. Even Mouri Kogoro, who was widely known as overlooking the most important details, could _see _the way the boy shifted uncomfortably in his chair, or the way he was sweating despite the emotionless look he was giving at that random poster of Okino Yoko he had set on the wall.

"Look," if Shinichi was surprised at his softer approach, he didn't show it. "Most of the time, I think you are an insufferable, insolent brat and I don't particularly like when you get too close to my daughter, but..."

"Gee, thanks."

"What I mean to say is... You're a good kid," he continued, even if he felt terribly awkward saying those things. "And I can tell you value justice above it all."

The teen's expression did not change, but his eyes shifted to meet Kogoro's hard, yet sincere eyes.

"I don't know what kind of mess you got into, what made you do all those things that you're so strongly against," Kogoro's hands clenched against each other, as he leaned closer. "But you're just a kid, Shinichi, despite what your parents and every single person in this world thinks. You can't handle all of this alone."

But no avail. The frown on Shinichi's face deepened further, if possible, and his entire complexion hardened. It was then that Kogoro realized that, no matter how much he tried, he wouldn't be able to get anything from this boy, who had closed himself so much as to guarantee eternal silence.

Ran came inside the room, pausing when she noticed the tense atmosphere. It was then that Shinichi's solemn face vanished, as a wide smirk appeared on his face, standing up and walking to the girl.

Who frowned in confusion, before the detective steered her away.

There, sitting all alone inside his own office, Mouri Kogoro felt genuinely lost.

* * *

By the time the two reached the door to the living room, they met with the sight of the little boy, wearing another set of clothes ─ he had most likely tossed the ones he had been wearing away.

It looked like he had been going to the kitchen before he stopped on his tracks, eyes wide in shock as they fell in Shinichi.

Who grinned. "Did I ever break a promise?"

And the other two smiled, slightly, as well. No words were needed to explain their feelings in that very same moment.

"Where is that little runt, by the way? The _other _little runt, I mean."

Shaking her head from side to side, Haibara joined them, phone in hand and, wordlessly, moved in front of Shinichi and stepped on his foot, _hard._

"Alright, alright. Princess. Princess Ai-chan."

Conan raised an eyebrow. _What part of her is princess-like, anyway?_

Not that he wanted to risk asking it.

Sighing a bit, Ran excused herself so she could go and make some lunch ─ she had said something about having to go visit Jodie at the hospital ─ not without exchanging one last look with Shinichi.

She didn't even ask if he was staying over to eat. Conan knew the reason behind it.

"Who were you talking with?"

Because of Shinichi's question, Conan looked at Haibara and realized she was holding her phone. Not that he knew who she had been talking to ─ Shinichi was right _there, _after all ─ but Conan suspected it wasn't a friend. The saddened look on her eyes had gotten more prominent since he had last seen her, which had been before that call, most likely.

"That's not relevant for the case, Detective Shinichi-san."

"There's no case here."

"Yeah. The Nosy Elusive Detective Murder Case."

"I take it you're the murderer?"

"If you don't shut up, _yes_."

"As you wish, my little lady."

"Forget about 'little'."

As their banter went back and forth, Conan couldn't help but _stare. _Stare at his brother laughing as he kept the conversation with the overly serious little girl whose lips were curving a little, little bit against her own will.

And her eyes, that had been dull and sad just now, were bright again.

There, alone with those two, Conan couldn't do anything but keep staring, unable, for reasons he couldn't really understand himself, to smile at them.

He felt, in some way, that he was a mere extra character.

At some point, Haibara sighed, loudly and turned around. "I need to go to the restroom," she raised her hand and, with a very vague wave, she started to walk. "Hope we don't see each other in a graveyard next time we meet."

Shinichi snickered. "Yeah, yeah."

Conan said nothing, just blankly stared as the scientist disappeared around the corner for a moment more than strictly necessary. He snapped out of it, however, when an elbow hit him in the arm.

"What has gotten into you?" the boy groaned, rubbing that sore spot, irritation written all over his face.

"So, Ai-chan or me?"

"I'm pretty sure there's some stuff missing in that phrase, grammatically speaking."

"The target of your jealousy."

The teen was more than amused to see the little boy's mouth opening, then closing silently, before avoiding his gaze, face red with embarrassment. This caused the older Kudo to let out a loud laugh as he reached to mess with Conan's already tousled hair.

All the annoyance he was feeling washed away when he heard it, realizing he had missed it so much. His brother's carefree, good hearted laughter.

"So, I take it you're leaving now, right?" Conan asked, once the laugher had died down.

Shinichi paused, and looked at his brother. He was surprised that there was no sign of that resigned glint his eyes would have on every single of their departures.

There was a sincere smile that warmed Shinichi's heart a tiny little bit.

"You aren't going to, I don't know, chase after me, are you?"

Conan shook his head. "I owe you that much," he stated. "You stayed, after all. Just don't get used to it, though."

He didn't say anything, just shrugged before heading to the door. His hand fell into the door handle, and he was about to open it, when Conan said something that caused him to blink, then wonder if he had heard right:

"Thank you, Onii-chan."

With a nod, and flashing him another grin, Shinichi finally left.

None of them noticed the little girl that was watching them from around the corner, phone pressed against her chest, and a troubled look on her eyes.

"_I will be frank," _Jodie's words were still fresh in her mind. "_We'd like you to join the Witness Protection Program."_

Her fingers grasped the device on her hand, tightly.

_What would you do, Onee-chan?_

* * *

"This seat is small," complained Genta, squashed between Mitsuhiko and the door of the car they were in. "Hey Conan, give me some room."

Huffing irritably at him, he turned to Ayumi, apologizing briefly before pressing closer to her. He didn't notice the way she blushed at the close proximity, or the happy, timid smile drawing itself on her features.

Soon, Conan was wondering how come they were there, squashed together in that small yellow Beetle playing the '30-seconds game', as Mitsuhiko had called it, when just a week ago he had been going through so many life-threatening situations he had actually lost count.

Everything had pretty much gone back to normal, and Conan couldn't be more glad about it, but...

"I'll pass," Haibara had said when they invited her to play.

But Haibara had been acting... off, for the lack of a better word. Admittedly, Haibara had always been her own kind of weird ─ cynical, stoic and cold, _very _cold ─ but over time, Conan had seen her, ever so slowly, opening to him and everyone else.

Now, it was different. She had closed off again, and she wouldn't really say a word to him if she could help it. At first, he had thought it was because she was still scared of Vermouth coming after her head, so he had assured her that they wouldn't come again ─ he hadn't told her that, but he had actually asked his mother to dress him up as Haibara again so he would walk around the streets. No consequences had been noted so far.

The only response he had gotten was a look that clearly stated '_you don't understand anything, Kudo-kun'_, before going to talk with Ayumi, leaving a clueless Conan behind to wonder what had he done wrong.

So far, he had been the only one with such treatment. That was far more annoying than having to deal with her sarcastic mouth on a daily basis.

"Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Your turn."

"A-Ah," he accepted the cronometer. "Yeah."

He got to 27, that wasn't that bad considering that Genta after him had nearly gotten an entire minute. Yet, Ayumi clearly surpassed him, seeing that she got the perfect mark.

When she got praised by that, she only blushed timidly, refusing to say anything else.

"That's right, Haibara," at some point, Genta asked the silent scientist. "Who were you talking to on the phone last night?"

Her eyes went wide, before she looked away. "I wasn't on the phone," trying to play it as something he had seen wrong, she stated plainly. "Kojima-kun, you were dreaming."

"Was I really?"

Ayumi giggled, softly. "I bet it's the person that Ai-chan likes," she whispered to the boys in the backseat. "You know, the one she was talking to the other time."

"... What makes you think that Haibara-san likes this person, Ayumi-chan?" Mitsuhiko asked, a bit of hesitation showing in his voice.

"A woman's intuition."

_A woman's intuition, huh? _Conan raised an eyebrow. _That was probably my brother who she had been talking with._

_... Then again, that doesn't debunk that theory, does it?_

Clueless about what to think, Conan stared at Ayumi for the longest time until his eyes travelled towards the front of the car, to the girl in question. Piercing, blue eyes met his and did not leave right away, which made the boy realize that she had listened to every single word of their little conversation, even if she had yet to say anything.

Her gaze narrowed slightly before it returned back to the road.

And Conan blinked twice, before his face scrunched into a scowl.

_What's... What's up with her?_

Before long, they reached their destination.

Up close, the Nishitamashi Twin Towers were even taller than it had seemed, so much that they couldn't see the top of it. As his friends awed at it, Conan slid his hands inside his pockets, wondering what exactly was _so _amazing about these towers that they had begged Agasa to stop by on their way back home.

A taxi pulled right in front of them. Conan was beyond shocked when he saw the three people that got out.

"Huh, Ran-neechan?"

"Ah, isn't that Conan-kun?"

Instantly, the child crossed the street to meet the girl and her friend, Sonoko, who wasn't that happy to see him around ─ which was normal.

"You!" it was Kogoro, however, the first one to react, loudly. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We decided to come here after camping," he stopped right in front of them. The rest of the group did the same. "What about you?"

Kogoro cleared his throat. "The owner of these Twin Tower Buildings is Tokiwa Mio-kun. She's an old college of mine," his lips curved into a very arrogant smirk. "She invited me to visit a week before the opening."

Conan blinked at him. "I didn't even know."

"Right? Dad didn't tell me either," Ran joined, before turning to her father with quite the dirty look on her face. "I suspected he was acting strange, so I made him submit."

"Submit? I didn't-!"

"So, basically, Ran-neechan is here to babysit Occhan," stated the child, unblinking.

"Babysitting?!" Kogoro was annoyed. "Me, the Great Detective Kogoro doesn't need anybody to watch over-"

"Babysitting. That's the word you're looking for."

Surprisingly, it was Sonoko the one that explained the situation ─ while talking over Kogoro, completely disregarding his opinion. Tokiwa Mio had just inherited the Tokiwa Corporation and was single, so of course Ran had been worried.

"Excuse me," a woman came forward. "Would you be Mouri Kogoro-sama?"

The President's Secretary, Sawaguchi Minami, let them through ─ including the children, who were elated to be allowed to come along. They followed her as she entered the A Tower, and explained that all floors above 31th belonged to the Tokiwa Corporation ─ an incredibly powerful company that dealt with all kinds of computer technology.

So, they were taken to a game room, and even Conan was surprised about how futuristic and cool all those machines looked ─ even if he wasn't that fond of games, frankly speaking.

Lead programmer, Yoshiaki Hara, introduced himself, but fell into deaf ears when Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko started to huddle closer to a particular machine that had caught their eye, wondering what in the world it was.

"Would you like to try it?" Hara's smile didn't disappear. "This computer will show your face in ten years."

Even Agasa was interested.

_Like a time-travelling machine? _Conan wasn't going to lie, that sounded neat, actually.

Professor Agasa and Ayumi were the first ones to try it. Partly curious about the result, Conan watched with mild interest as they both sat in the machine and a helmet was lowered to their heads.

Two photographs were printed.

Agasa hadn't changed a bit. None were surprised.

Yet, Ayumi's did, by a whole lot. Conan smiled a bit as he looked at the photo of an eighteen year-old Ayumi smiling at the camera, not at all shocked to realize that, despite the clear passing of time, her kind smile and bright eyes had not vanished.

Ayumi would always be Ayumi, alright.

"So cute!" Genta and Mitsuhiko chorused, enchanted by the young woman in front of their eyes.

Next was their turn. Like Ayumi, change was evident. Genta's hair was slightly longer and Mitsuhiko's features were a bit sharper, but all in all they remained the same.

Sonoko wasn't pleased with her result. "Look, look, an old lady," it didn't help that Genta was pointing out the obvious, Mitsuhiko clearly agreeing with his friend.

Ran was a bit embarrassed when Ayumi beamed at the sight of her old self, and Conan couldn't help but mirror his friend's reaction. There, in the photo, was a beautiful young lady, hair a bit longer than now, and a slightly more mature expression on her face but, like all others, managed to still be the same sweet, pure Ran.

"Too bad you're stuck with Shinichi," the boy couldn't help but agree with the old professor.

"Next is Conan and Haibara!" Genta exclaimed.

Haibara, who was simply staring at another random machine a distance away, glanced at him then shook her head. "I'm interested."

"I'll pass as well," Conan offered their friends an apologetic smile.

Because he didn't need a machine to tell him what he would look like in ten years, since he already knew. Not that the thought made him any happier, however.

Of course life would never go the way he wanted to, he realized as he felt his feet leaving the ground. "I really want to see what you'll look like in ten years!"

With that, he was dropped into the machine by Kogoro, and he noted by the corner of his eye that Mitsuhiko and Genta had basically done the same thing to Haibara, even if she hadn't wanted to cooperate either.

So, he shot a very dirty look at Kogoro as the helmet was lowered into his head. Some lights danced in front of his eyes before a flash nearly made him go blind. And like everyone else, two photos were printed.

Upon seeing his face, Conan let out a long, defeated sigh.

"So?" Ran came up from behind him. "What will you look like, Conan... kun...?"

Her eyes were wide as they studied his ten-year older face, just like Sonoko's as she joined her friend ─ but unlike her, the heiress had been _loud, _gasping as she pointed at the photograph he held.

He had expected that kind of reaction. After all, he could see Shinichi in the photo. A Shinichi that wore glasses, anyway.

"Wow, genetics sure are strong," blinked Kogoro, surprised.

"Why are you so surprised?" Conan shrugged. "It should've been obvious, considering what he looked like when he was my age."

Without any further word, he went closer to where his friends were crowding, all beaming at the photograph Haibara was holding. Curious, he took a look at it.

A beautiful young woman was looking straight at the camera, the same sharp eyes piercing though the gaze of whoever was looking at her. Short, strawberry blonde hair remained the same, and there was a barely noticeable smile on her face.

A bittersweet smile, that was.

Conan couldn't, for the life of him, understand the meaning of all that.

* * *

"Maybe if you faced the other way it would be a bit easier for you."

For once in his life, Kogoro did not scowl at the child, and actually turned around so he would be facing the door of the VIP elevator, instead of the very terrifying view of the city as they raised to the 75th floor. Conan studied him for a moment, shrugging, before going to join their friends.

All of them ─ besides Haibara, obviously ─ had their faces pressed against the crystal, eyes glimmering with joy, showing no signs of acrophobia or whatsoever.

Eventually, they reached their destination, and Conan wasn't very shocked to see Kogoro basically jumping out once he saw the doors opening.

The room they had been taken to was in process of being prepared for the opening party, so naturally the otherwise elegant hall was a mess of workers, papers and several other things as they got everything ready.

There, in the middle of the room, they met Mio.

Ran made sure to clarify that she was there in place of her mother, which her father didn't quite appreciate but got ultimately ignored. Not batting an eye, Ran proceeded to introduce every single person that had come with Kogoro, and Tokiawa Mio did the same.

Her art instructor, Kisaragi Hosui ─ Mount Fuji painter, Conan recalled. The Nishitamashi Councilman, Oki Iwamatsu ─ he smelled like alcohol. Lastly, the designer and architect of the building, Kazama Hidehiko ─ former student of Moriya Teiji.

To this day, the feeling of almost losing Ran _and _his brother in one single day still made a knot to form on his throat, so to say that he wasn't pleased to hear that was more than understandable. He assured them that there was no need to worry, that he wasn't going to destroy these buildings, but Conan still felt uneasy.

If somebody had suddenly decided, whatever the reason, to plant bombs in any of these towers, Conan truly didn't want to imagine what kind of catastrophe could happen.

The guy didn't seem to have an obsession with symmetry, that was Conan's only comforting thought.

Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta were on another different page, he realized, when he turned to see that they all were admiring the view to the Mount Fuji they all had. Soon, they rushed to the other side, noticing that there was something like a dome

"The B Tower is a commercial building," explained Mio. "The bottom is commercial while the top is a hotel. The top floor is also home to an indoor pool. Complete with a retractable roof."

"Wow... That's really something," Kogoro breathed out.

Despite how bad he felt about it, Conan couldn't help but agree with him.

"Ah, chocolate!"

They all turned around, surprised by Genta's sudden exclamation, to see the three children hovering close to Hara, who had taken some chocolate to eat. Letting out a laugh because he had been found out, he offered them some, and they loudly accepted it.

_Hey, hey. Hadn't they been ever told not to accept candy from strangers?_

"Although he's a genius programmer, he can be childish," Mio shook her head, even if her smile gave away she was amused.

"Well, that's how fun games are made," Agasa pointed out.

"Guess you're the exception, Professor," Conan stated, plainly.

The Professor gave him a glare, which he had paid no attention to, merely crossing his arms behind his head as his gaze travelled around the place, a bored expression plastered on his face. That changed to confusion when he caught sight of Haibara, who was giving him one of those looks again, before turning away.

This was beginning to become _really _annoying, he decided with a long, exhausted sigh.

"Haibara-san!" so, he called her, moving closer.

The girl merely turned around, cold eyes narrowing slightly as they fell on his form.

Exactly the way she would do, back when they barely knew each other. That didn't settle well with him, at all.

"What?" she asked, face unmoving.

And Conan hesitated, realizing he had no idea what to say. "Eh..." he mumbled stupidly for a moment, before he frowned and opened his mouth to speak.

"Wow, that's such a rare car," the voice filled his ears before he had the chance to say anything. "What type was it?"

"It's a Porsche 356A."

Both their faces went white when they heard that, freezing in place for less than a second because of what that might have implied. Conan was the first one to react, rushing towards the two men that had been talking with each other not a moment ago, while Haibara could only watch, terrified, as the child desperately asked them the colour of that car and where they had seen it.

"It was parked in front of this building, and it was black."

They barely had time to answer his question before the boy bolted towards the VIP elevator, despite the way Kogoro and Ran were calling his name.

The next second, he was gone.

"What's wrong with him?" Genta raised an eyebrow, not understanding at all the actions of his friend.

"Don't be too loud, Genta-kun," Mitsuhiko shushed him, while Ayumi pulled him away to the farthest corner of the room. "Did you forget what Conan-kun said?"

Genta blinked.

"That dangerous person that poisoned Shinichi-san had a black Porsche 356A."

"Oh, yeah, that's right..."

Groaning to himself, Mitsuhiko pressed a hand against his face, letting out a tired sigh, while Ayumi simply looked at the sky through the window. _Conan-kun, _she thought, worriedly, pressing a hand against her chest.

She glanced towards Haibara and, despite the emotionless look she was giving to her own reflection on the glass, she could see it. _Ai-chan is terrified._

None of them noticed Ran, from a distance away, studying their unusual reactions, and then letting a soft frown made its way on her face.

* * *

_Damn it!_

As soon as he had gotten out of the building, Conan had taken off running, only to find that the black car had driven away. So he just stood there, panting and gasping for air as he glared at a random spot in the sidewalk, where that cursed Porsche was supposed to be parked at.

_But, why? Why were they here?_

A bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

_They couldn't have known that Haibara-san is here... Could they?_

_No, no, that's not possible. If they did..._

His eyes widened in horror, picturing what would follow next if they did. Haibara, his friends, Ran. his brother... everyone...

He shook his head, eyes closing shut as he willed his mind to stop overthinking. It wasn't like he was absolutely sure it was them, for all he knew it could be another old car-fanatic that also happened to have one of those cars.

But his head wouldn't let him be, plaguing his mind with pictures of all those he knew cold and dead ─ years and years of seeing dead bodies were messing up with him, he concluded.

A hand pressing on his shoulder caused him to jump and spin around, terror still struck on his features. "Conan-kun, what's wrong?" he relaxed, just a little bit, when he met Ran's concerned eyes. "What happened? You ran away so suddenly..."

"... Ah," it took a moment more than needed for Conan to manage a barely convincing smile. "It's nothing, Ran-neechan. I heard some people talking about an unusual car down here and I really wanted to take a look at it... Guess they left already, though."

He didn't like it. He didn't like the way that Ran's ever gentle eyes narrowed, suspicion evident in every bit of her expression, piercing through his gaze, as if she smelled that something was off ─ well, she _was _the daughter of a detective.

So he grinned sheepishly. "Let's go, Ran-neechan," he said to her before he began to head back to the building, hoping that this conversation would end right then and there.

Luck wasn't on his side, however. Conan was startled when her hand gripped his arm before he could go. "Ran-neechan?" he looked back at her, feigning innocence, when she brought him back, so he would be standing right in front of her.

He tried to wriggle his arm away, but her grip didn't slack. _As expected from a karate champion,_ he mused.

"Conan-kun," there was a sternness in her voice that Conan rarely heard, even when she would scold him. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

His smile vanished. Despite how badly he wanted to look away from her perceptive eyes, Conan managed to hold her gaze. "No," the child then said, a brave look behind his glasses, even if he was sweating bullets at this point.

And, for the longest time, they just stared at each other. Before long, the girl sighed and released him and the boy finally looked away, closing his eyes for a second, before heading back inside.

Ran couldn't help the bad feeling settling on the pit of her stomach. Undoubtedly worried about what he was getting into, yet frustrated. Frustrated because she couldn't get this boy to talk to her.

Every single soul in this world would agree. If Kudo Conan decided not to open his mouth about something, he would never, _ever _say anything about it.

_What are you hiding, Conan-kun?_

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Not long, I guess.

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Shinichi saved Vermouth in that case in New York. Cool Kid is still Conan. Sorry if it was confusing!


	53. The Mystery of the Sake Cup

**File Fifty-Three: The Mystery of the Sake Cup**

When Mouri Kogoro received a call from Inspector Megure, requesting to gather all people that had visited the Nishitamashi Twin Towers the other day ─ whatever the reason ─ the detective had simply groaned before telling Ran and Conan to call their friends and heading to the police headquarters.

As soon as the group arrived, they were told that Iwamatsu had died, stabbed in Tower B, 67th floor where he had been staying. The murder weapon had yet to be found, and the victim had been holding a sake cup broken in two pieces. Nobody could understand the reason, but guessed it was a dying message.

Kogoro had pointed out that the Japanese word for 'sake cup' ─ _choko ─_ sounded like 'chocolate', so the culprit _had _to be Hara. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta loudly disagreed, claiming that someone that had given them chocolate _couldn't _be the bad guy.

Conan could tell there were _so _many things wrong with both sides of the argument, but couldn't bring himself to say anything about it. There were more things to worry about than theie stupid conclusions.

Such as the fact that sake cups _could _be associated with alcohol.

"Wrong," the soft, monotonous voice brought him out of his thoughts. Haibara had read his mind, _that _was scary. "It's far too obvious for them not to notice."

The boy nodded at her, a frown still present, before he spotted his friends huddled together, talking between each other about something he couldn't hear. But he could imagine.

So he wasn't surprised when he found them, gathering at Beika Station the next day. _I knew it, _he sighed, silently sneaking up on them.

"I can't wait!" Ayumi beamed.

"Being ahead of Conan is exciting!" Genta exclaimed.

"Who are you ahead of?"

Flinching violently, the three children slowly turned around until they met face to face with an unamused Conan, who was crossing his arms in front of his chest and raising an eyebrow above his hairline, clearly waiting for an explanation.

"H-How did you know?" Mitsuhiko stammered.

"Was I supposed not to?" his frown deepened. "You were going to investigate the case on your own, and thought I would stop you all, right?"

"... Which you always do, anyway," Genta stated.

"You always go investigating on your own, Conan-kun!" Ayumi argued. "How is this any different than what you do?"

"Well, I..." he trailed off, because he knew they were right. So he sighed. "Alright, I'm going with you, wherever you're going."

He turned around right away, purposely avoiding to meet eyes with the grinning faces of their three friends.

So, the four friends took the train ─ Haibara had apparently been invited yet had declined because she had 'some cleaning to do', which Conan had the feeling it was _not _it, but didn't say anything at all. They had explained to him that they had plans to go see Kazama and Kisaragi, then Hara the next day.

They had found out that, even though Kazama's house is in Setagaya, he had an apartment where he worked from just one station from Nishitamashi. Kisaragi lived alone and had built his house in Asahino three years ago.

Conan was mostly surprised, however. _Their investigation has depth._

"Well," Mitsuhiko pondered as they walked out the station. "Kazama-san's apartment is somewhere near this station... As for Kisaragi-san... There! On that hill!"

The boy with glasses looked towards the hill Mitsuhiko had pointed out and hummed. _Must be a pain to live in a place like that, _he wondered, shrugging before turning back around so he could follow his friends.

Until something made him stop on his tracks. "Eh?" he blinked, eyes not looking away from the scenery right in front of him. The Mount Fuji, split in two by the Nishitamashi Twin Tower buildings.

"Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked, worriedly.

"Come on, we're going to leave without you!" Genta yelled.

"Uh, yeah. I'm going!"

First, they went to visit Kazama's apartment, and if he was being honest, Conan felt a bit uneasy as soon as he stepped inside. He _was, _after all, Moriya's student, and the events of nearly a year ago were still stuck on his head, and he didn't think he was going to forget them anytime soon.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about him, however. There were some random buildings' models and a computer. Conan recognized it as a CAD-System.

"So, children," Kazama asked. "Why are you visiting me?"

The boy nearly sighed when Genta and Mitsuhiko started whispering, pressuring each other to speak up. "To the point, Kazama-san. We," ultimately, notebook in hand, it seemed like Mitsuhiko was the one to begin the questioning. "... love what you've done to this apartment!"

Both boys slumped backwards, watching their fellow detective boy rambling, talking about many other things that had absolutely no relation with the case. Seeing that there was no way they were going to progress like that, Conan massaged his temples and opened his mouth to speak.

"We're known as the Detective Boys," Ayumi beat him to it. "We're investigating the murder of Oki-san."

_Wow, she's serious about this._

Now that the ice had been broken, Mitsuhiko asked him many questions they had written down before getting in there. Questions like what Kazama thought about Oki ─ he had been offensive, but because of his influence in the city council Kazama had a job ─ or if he had any disagreements with the victim ─ he didn't recall any concerning Oki.

"Then you did with others?" Conan spoke up, causing the adult to pause.

Of course, he denied it.

"Eh," Ayumi noticed a framed picture standing on the table next to Kazama. "That picture..."

"Ah, that's my only son. Isn't he cute?" he explained, and Conan could see a boy, not older than three, waving at the camera. "There are times when I am working alone at night and want to hear his voice, so I sometimes call knowing he's asleep. Parents are silly, right?"

Conan didn't know why, but those words resounded with him the entire way to the Kisaragi Residence.

To say they didn't have a warm welcome could be the understatement of the century, since the old man had only given them a cold, stern look upon meeting them at the door, silently letting them in. Then, he simply sat in the middle of an empty room and started to paint.

_Mount Fuji, _Conan observed, as he and his friends sat right behind him in a line. _Why would he have the curtains closed, then?_

After all, that huge window in front of him would show all of them the sight of it, if he wasn't mistaken. Then, it came to him. From this place, all he would be able to see was...

His eyes widened.

"Umm..." pressured by Genta again, Mitsuhiko was the first to break the silence. "We're the Detective Boys."

Kisaragi paused.

"We're here about Oki-san's case-"

"CHILDREN SHOULDN'T IMITATE THE POLICE!"

At his loud outburst, the three children next to Conan were startled, jumping back terrified at the sight of the old man. "Isn't that being a hypocrite, Kisaragi-san?" their friend, however, remained unfazed by it, simply questioning back with a plain look.

When the child's expression didn't change at the intense glare he received, the others decided that he was either brave or lacked survival instincts.

"Because your paintings are, after all, well-made imitations of nature. Your beloved Mount Fuji, in your case," the boy didn't even blink. "Aren't we both imitating reality in some way or another?"

Silently as always, Kisaragi studied him for a few moments before he finally turned around. For the longest moment, the child and man stared at each other until Kisaragi spoke up.

"Though I suppose it would be beneficial if you left with something."

That's how Conan found himself staring at a painting of his own face, standing outside the house. They didn't get anything besides that, but Conan figured it had been predictable.

"I'm glad we got these paintings, but..." Mitsuhiko blinking, staring at his own.

"But we found out nothing about the case," added Genta.

"I guess you can't do anything unless you're with the police," Ayumi then turned to their other friend. "Conan... kun?"

Blinking owlishly, they watched his friend giving an intense, long look at his own painting. That, for less than a second, got their hopes up, as they thought that he would have surely realized something about that seemingly useless piece of art...

"... My glasses are not _that _big," then, he mumbled, a frown pinching his face.

It took a long few moments for those words to be processed but, when they did, laughter filled the silence, prompting Conan's eyebrow to twitch, figuring he wouldn't like the reason for it at all.

"But Conan-kun..." Mitsuhiko managed, between breaths.

"Your glasses _are _big," Genta pointed out. "Anyone would recognize them by a mile away!"

"Geez, thanks, guys."

"Come on, don't be so mad, Conan-kun," tried Ayumi, even if the way her voice broke with a giggle she couldn't hold in. "Those glasses are what makes you, _you. _You should be proud of them. "

"... Don't even try, Ayumi-chan."

* * *

"Seriously, that's the best you could come with?"

"... Should I pretend I know what you're talking about, or...?"

Applying pressure to the bridge of his nose, Conan made his way inside the library of his house, making sure to hurry to do what he had wanted to check before it would be time to meet his friends.

"Cough drops. Ran-neechan received your return gift for White Day this morning. They were _cough drops..._ I mean, really?"

"What's wrong with that?" Shinichi argued while his brother strolled around the room, eyes wandering over the bookshelves, looking for _that _book. "Her voice sounded hoarse over the phone, so I thought..."

The child shook his head. "You might be the best for solving crimes, but you are definitely the worst when it comes to romance..."

"What could you possibly know about romance?" he was pretty sure that Shinichi had rolled his eyes. "You're too young to understand."

"I can't be too young to understand that you fail at it. Badly," he shot back. "Ran-neechan had this clueless look on her eyes when she received it..."

She also had shaken her head, sighing softly, with a small yet very warm smile on her face, before she stuck one of them into her mouth, but he wasn't telling him that_. Details, right?_

As his brother rambled about something, he finally found it. Dragging his father's chair next to the spot he had just been standing at, Conan climbed up and grabbed the desired book.

Any other day, he would have wondered what was wrong with him upon looking at the girly, flower-filled cover. Well, he _had _been reading this a lot, according to his mother, right?

"I wonder if Ran _actually _has a cold, though," at some point, his brother said.

"Ah, yeah, she has one. It's not that bad, however," he merely confirmed. "I bet she got it from Haibara-san the other day."

"That's likely..." Shinichi pondered. "Speaking of which, how are things going on your end? After, you know, everything."

"Strangely okay," Conan stated, thinking against telling him about the black Porsche found parked at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers Building ─ for one, he wasn't sure it was Gin's, and he also didn't want to get Shinichi in any danger. Experience taught him that he would jump in a train and come to Beika, again. "There is no sign of them. Well, I don't think there's anything I can tell you that Haibara-san hasn't."

"Ah, no. I haven't talked with her ever since we met the other time."

The boy could have tripped and fell off the chair right there, but managed to keep himself upright. "What do you mean she hasn't?"

His brother had fallen silent, unable to understand what he had said wrong, yet he paid no mind. Climbing down, Conan's mind started to run, eyes wide and staring far away, remembering each and every single one of her actions, but he didn't get anything besides the weird behavior.

"A few days ago we went camping and Genta said that Haibara-san had been talking with someone over the phone at night. Professor Agasa just told me that she had done the same thing last night..." he explained, sweat rolling down his forehead, as he sat on the floor. "Who was she talking to, if it wasn't you?"

"Hey, hey, you don't think...?"

"No. Haibara-san would never betray us," Conan assured him, even if he was pretty sure his brother knew that already. "Admittedly, she has been acting kind of weird lately..."

Shinichi started to hum, thinking deeply about the problem in hand. "Something had shaken her."

"Shaken her? Hey, do you know what it was?"

"Maybe," he stated. "Ran protected her with her body the other day, didn't she?"

"Her attitude towards her is the only thing that hasn't changed. She is still reluctant to go anywhere close to her, whatever the reason."

"Have you ever wondered why she does that?"

Conan blinked. "Of course I have, but I don't have a clue... Do you?"

He had a feeling that Shinichi knew what he was talking about, so he stayed silent, as his brother sighed, exhausted, as if debating whether telling him or not.

"... It has come to my attention lately," he finally decided to speak. "That Ran resembles Akemi-san by a whole lot."

Conan's eyes widened at that, before he looked down at the book on his hands. "I see," he only managed to say in a low whisper, his eyebrows furrowing together at the memory of that woman's death, which would forever be carved in his mind.

_Now that I think of it, she was the first person I have ever seen dying, huh?_

Maybe that was why it still affected him this badly to this day.

"Conan?" his brother's worried voice ran through. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yeah. I'm fine," the lie came out smoothly. "Anyways, I need to meet with Ayumi-chan and the others in a few minutes, so I guess I will call you later."

"We both know you _never _call."

"Sharp."

"... But you do know, right?" Conan paused at the seriousness of his voice. "If you need somebody to talk to, I'm here."

"I know, I know," that got him to smile. "Even if Genta would probably be much better than you giving out advice."

"You're an insufferable brat, you knew that?"

"Are you talking to a mirror, by any chance?"

"Whatever. _Bye_."

Immediately after his brother had finished the call, Conan set the phone down and focused on the book he had picked, his mother's book about _hanakotoba. _For the longest time, he just stared at it, before he let out a long sigh.

He pulled his little notebook out and played with his pen, before closing his eyes, trying to remember each and every single line for that weird message he had found when he was four.

Conan supposed he had looked at it an insane amount of times when he was younger, because once he remembered the beginning of that letter, the rest had easily come out. As if he had memorized it a long, long time ago.

Of course, he wrote it down before he could forget.

_I solved this when I was four, right? Or at least, a part of it, _he frowned. _I should be able to figure it out again._

So, taking a deep breath, he focused in the first half of it.

"_Please, listen to my words._

_In this big classroom, filled with so many people, I feel completely alone. I miss you so much, Onee-chan. I desperately want this day to end so I can see you again. So I can have dinner with you, feel the gentle touch in every bit of food that you cook for me, even if it does not taste good..."_

Then, he opened the book, coming to the conclusion that it _had _to be related to flowers if he had gotten so absorbed into reading those things ─ that he had never been fond of in the first place. He now figured it shouldn't be that farfetched, considering the first line. Her fake name was _Hana, _meaning _flower._

To listen to the words of a flower. Again, _hanakotoba._

_Which means..._

'_I feel completely alone'... Solitude... _his finger moved across the lines in the book, until he found it. _Erika?_

'_... desperately'... Desperation... Sakurasou._

'_... gentle'... Haibisukasu._

'_... taste good'... Good taste? Tenjikubotan, then._

He wrote those words down, hand stroking his chin as he pondered over them. He even tried writing them in _romaji, _using _kanji, hiragana, _but no avail. He couldn't see what Haibara had meant with that.

Not to mention he hadn't even started on the second part, which he clearly remembered _not _getting it before.

_Even when she was five, that girl was a headache, right? _he let out something between a snicker and a sigh, massaging his temples.

He wondered if it would be easier if he just asked her, but then decided against it. Considering how she had acted at the mention of her old name, he figured it wouldn't be the best course of action.

* * *

"Good morning, Conan-kun!"

"You're slow!"

"We've been waiting!"

Upon the sight of his friends Conan picked up speed, opening his mouth to apologize ─ he had ultimately lost track of time and had to leave his house in a rush ─ when he spotted someone standing behind Ayumi, her icy blue eyes shifting towards him just a little in acknowledgment.

"Haibara-san wants to accompany us to meet Hara-san," apparently, his shock must have shown on his face, because Ayumi clarified.

"A-Ah, really?"

"Is that alright?" she shrugged. "I'm a little interested in that game of Hara-san."

He didn't find the words to answer, blinking with a dumb expression on his face that did not disappear, even when they began to walk, just staring at Haibara who, if she realized his actions, didn't let it bother her, just focused on the conversation everyone was having, smiling every once in a while.

At some point, she had ended up trailing behind the group. Conan noticed there was a thoughtful look on her eyes, as she gazed at the concrete she was walking on, and frowned slightly.

Haibara didn't even look at him, but he did slow down his pace so it would match the girl's. Her attitude did not change, and that got his eyebrow to twitch.

"Hey," groaned the boy. "What's with you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Kudo-kun."

"You have been avoiding me since that day," Conan pointed out. "And I tried, I really tried to figure out what I did, but you're not making it easy for me, Haibara-san."

The scientist didn't feel like answering.

"Did I say something-?"

"You didn't say anything wrong," she finally answered, with a huff. "I must be tired after everything that has happened, that's all."

It did not convince Conan, she could tell without even looking, but she refused to say more. So, without another single word, the girl picked up the pace, leaving a very confused and equally frustrated detective behind her.

Soon, the group got to Hara's apartment and Mitsuhiko happily rang the bell. A curious glance towards the apartment let Conan realize the door was open, causing them to wonder what was wrong and come in.

They found Hara alright. Lying dead on the floor, a gunshot on his chest and a silver knife on his hand. And that was, by far, the least disturbing fact in the entire murder scene.

It was the sake cup that sat in the middle of the already dry pool of blood, broken into two pieces. Completely clean.

Inspector Megure came to Mouri's Agency closer to night and explained to all the residents that the murder had occurred between 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, meaning that Kisaragi, who had been with the kids at the time, couldn't be the culprit. They were also told that all of Hara's computer data had been erased, and that might have been the killer's motive.

That didn't put Conan at ease. Not at all.

"Regardless, I have reason to fear even more deaths awaiting," Megure stated.

"That's why Inspector Megure has requested Tokiwa-san to postpone the Opening Party," Shiratori added. "But she refused."

The inspector in question sighed. "Not only that," he reached to grab something from his pocket. "We received these."

Mouri was passed an envelope which he opened, just to see a party invitation. Everyone, including Agasa and the children, had their names written on it. Conan could only blink at the information.

* * *

Haibara Ai descended down the stairs.

Slowly and silently, her coat resting over her shoulders, Haibara headed towards the basement.

She knew that this habit was wrong ─ so, so, so _wrong _─ and potentially dangerous, but she didn't think she would be able to sleep another wink of sleep if she didn't hear it. Her beloved sister's voice.

Ever since the day that Mouri Ran had saved her ─ her scent was the same ─ and taken care of her ─ her touch and smile were the same ─ her nightmares had only gotten worse and worse. Every time she would close her eyes, she would see _her. _Walking away from her, a sad look on her ever gentle eyes, before getting swallowed by darkness.

So, with a shaky sigh, she grabbed the phone, dialed that number and pressed it against her ear.

"_Yes, this is Miyano," _Haibara closed her eyes with a smile, taking into that amazing sound that she had missed _so _much. "_I'm not home at the moment, but leave your name and a message after the beep."_

When the beep ran through his ears, the girl didn't think about it twice.

"Onee-chan? It's me. We're going to the Twin Tower Buildings' Opening Party-"

The line was cut for some reason. A gasp escaped her as she spun around, shocked beyond belief to see the boy, who wasn't supposed to be there, looking at her, with a frown painted behind his thick glasses. In his hand was a wire, and Haibara immediately understood what was going on.

The professor, still on his pajamas, stepped up from behind the child, who simply stood there. Silent, unmoving.

Though his gaze was unwavering, she could tell he was trying to determine which words were the best to say in a situation like that.

Not that he let him think about it, she just took off running, knocking him over to a side and away from her way.

"Haibara-san!"

Agasa tried to stop the boy from going, but he was too fast for him. So, with a sigh, he watched both children disappear in the darkness of the hallway.

She managed to get inside a room, closing the door abruptly before Conan could do anything about it. Then sighed, loudly, resting her back against the door.

So Conan glared at the door for a few moments, until he huffed. "Look," he began, pressing his hands against the wooden surface. "I'm not going to pretend I know what you're going through, but-"

"_No one _understands my feelings," she snapped, causing Conan to flinch.

"I know-"

"What can _you _know?!" Haibara's voice rose. "Shinichi-san... Your brother... Your brother is _alive, _Kudo-kun. You two still have a chance... but..." she trailed off into silence. "... Once you die, it's all over."

For a couple of minutes, Conan was quiet, gaze fixed on his feet and hands curling into balls, deep in thought. Letting his shoulders drop, he turned around and leaned against the wall.

"Did you know?" the tired sound of his voice actually caused Haibara to listen. "There is... There is no day I don't regret being unable to save your sister."

His eyes fell on the palm of his hands, which were trembling by now.

"And in nights like these, I can't help but wonder... What would have happened? If I had just been a bit faster, a bit more smarter... If I had pressed a bit more on the wound, I don't know," a smile crossed his face, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "... Maybe, just maybe, everything..."

Her hands, which had been covering her tearful face, slowly lowered, her gaze falling into the door behind her. _Kudo-kun, _she thought, clearly hearing the pain on his voice as he remembered that fateful day, when her sister had bleeded out in this boy's arms.

She hadn't realized that her death had affected him this much.

_You have a good heart, Kudo-kun, _Haibara realized. _But it's soft. Incredibly soft._

_With a heart like this... With the lightest touch..._

_... If you found out the truth..._

Her lips pressed together.

_... it would shatter beyond repair._

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: No, I don't think I'm going to do movie 7. If I do any other movie, I will most likely skip through a lot of them.

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: The New York case took place after Shinichi got his codename, so it was around that time.

aixelle: Well... There you have it, I guess XD

ABCOPQRXYZ: Since I don't speak Indonesian, I had to use a translator for this, so sorry if I understood something wrong. The thing is, Miyano Shiho actually exists, and she is Haibara. The name Hana is actually fake. Sorry if it was confusing!

Bry: Most likely the rating isn't going to change, because I don't plan to touch those themes.


	54. A Disastrous Opening Party

**File Fifty-Four: A Disastrous Opening Party**

_Erika... Sakurasou... Haibisukasu... Tenjikubotan..._

It was a morning like any other, and like every ordinary day, Conan made his way inside Teitan Elementary School. Unlike any other instances, however, the child wasn't sighing loudly, lamenting his fate of having to sit through hours and hours of constant lecturing that he didn't see the purpose of ─ as arrogantly as that sounded, there wasn't much he could learn there.

This time around, he was deep in thought, holding a small notebook in front of his eyes, doing his best to ignore the group of older girls that were chattering amongst each other, walking a few feet behind him.

_Maybe I could try making an anagram with the first characters of each flower, but... I can't really think of anything with those..._

_E-Sa-Ha-Te... or maybe E-S-H-T?_

_... Not a clue._

"Say, say," one of the girls said to the other, a bit too cheerfully. "Did you like the movie we watched tonight?"

"Ah, you mean the one we saw in your house? I absolutely loved it."

"It was good, considering it was such an old movie... Even that retired actress, Fujimine Yukiko, was there."

Conan tried not to wince at the mention of his mother's maiden name, picking up his pace so he could make the distance bigger.

"Fujimine Yukiko? Ah, you mean Kudo Yukiko, the mother of that famous high school detective? Heard he has gone missing..."

"Scary. You don't think that family is actually cursed, right?"

"Cursed?"

"Yeah! Did you know? Their youngest son died in a car accident when he was four! Now, for the oldest to disappear so suddenly..."

Conan blinked at those words, glancing at the girls from over his shoulder, before returning back to his notebook. None noticed that slip.

_Car accident... So that's what the police told the media?_

_Understandable. If word got that their son got involved in a kidnapping case, the media would go crazy._

"How is that you know that much, to begin with?"

"I watched a documentary called '_The Curse of the Kudo Family'. _I would recommend it for you, but it's in English, so..."

"Mean!"

The boy's eyes opened at that. _English, _he gasped, looking at the words he had scribbled down. _Could it be?_

_If I work with those words, in English instead..._

_Erica... Primrose... Hibiscus... Dahlia... E-P-H-D?_

_With these letters... This... This...!_

_... This doesn't make any sense either._

He was brought out of his deduction haze when he heard some steps heading towards him, and soon he saw the figure of a certain strawberry girl walking right beside him. Her eyes were fixed on the floor she was walking in, not daring to make any eye-contact.

"I'm sorry for last night," she said, softly. "I know doing it is dangerous. I know I should stop..."

Her hands clenched around the straps of her bag.

"But still, every time I'm alone... I take the phone in hand and dial the number... Even if it's only to hear my sister's voice for ten seconds..."

It wasn't like he could blame her, given that he couldn't say for sure what he would do if his brother suddenly died like Akemi did. Despite it all, he slid his hands inside his pockets, his notebook in one of them.

"Idiot," he then huffed, as they reached their classroom. "You're not alone anymore."

Haibara was confused, yet he did not offer her any explanation. Before long, she closed her eyes and continued. "I believe it's almost time regardless, I'll stop. I deleted the message, so there's no reason to worry."

Walking towards her desk, Haibara set her bag on top of it and stopped moving, head lowering and her bangs covering her eyes.

"But... I've been wondering who I really am," it came out in a sorrowful whisper. "Who I am... Where it is I belong... Wherever I go, I have no place."

"Eh?! How can Ai-chan say she has no place?"

"What are you saying, Haibara?"

"Isn't that your place right there, Haibara-san?"

Both of them turned around at the instant, seeing their three friends giving Haibara equally confused looks, unable to understand the real meaning behind her words.

Then, Ayumi brightened. "This is mine," she stated, sitting in front of Ai's desk.

"Mine is here," a smiling Mitsuhiko did the same, at the desk on her right.

"This one is mine!" Genta exclaimed, a big grin plastered all over his face as he plopped down on the seat behind her.

As giggles set in, filling the otherwise empty classroom, Haibara could only watch, eyes wide as two plates, at the three children that were happy to just be _there_.

"And _my _place is here."

Not expecting that, the girl turned to Conan as he slowly sat in the desk that was right at her side, a bright grin lighting up his face before he winked.

_See? _it was as if he had said it. _You aren't alone._

And she couldn't help but smile back, genuinely for the first time in days.

Like so, Ai sat on her desk and finally realized it. That was her own and only place in that entire world, surrounded by that wonderful group of friends that were so accepting of her, despite all her flaws. Despite her dark past.

But it was a bittersweet feeling. Because Jodie's words would still ring on her mind:

"_If you fear that woman's vengeance... and do not wish to involve your friends... I await your positive reply."_

Her eyes shifted to the boy beside her and, upon looking at the notebook on his hands, she narrowed her eyes. "Maybe you should stop."

He looked away from the notebook and straight to her. "Huh?"

Haibara gave him a long look, which he couldn't really read, before her eyes went plain and dull, focusing on the blackboard in front of the classroom.

"There are things that are better left off the way they are... If you probe any deeper..."

_I fear what will happen to you, Kudo-kun._

With a jerky nod, the boy put the notebook away. Unable to understand what she meant with that ─ and, at some point or another, _scared _of it ─ but knowing _that _gaze.

She feared something, something he had no idea about.

Conan didn't know what to do.

* * *

Conan leaned against the rented car, the gears of his mind still in motion, listening yet not paying attention as Kogoro grumbled, annoyed over the fact that the Suzuki heiress had yet to make an appearance. He barely looked up when Haibara walked over him.

"What's wrong, Detective?" she smirked. "You are thinking a bit too much, considering a murder hasn't happened yet."

He pointedly ignored the word 'yet' she had deliberately chosen to use.

"Ah, so you're actually talking to me?" his eyebrow rose, and she shrugged.

"What? Were you missing it?"

"Stupid, that's not it," he took a moment to roll his eyes, then glance over the other children, who were happily chatting with each other, before his gaze fell on his feet, fingers on his chin. "I was wondering if it _was _possible that Hara-san was connected with those men in black."

Haibara's expression hardened at that. "It's certainly possible," she replied. "They're always recruiting talent from the political, medical and scientific fields for their research and operations."

"And councilman Oki-san?"

"Though he doesn't appear to have the power, it's possible," her eyes narrowed. "I should mention, once you join the Organization you're in for life."

"Which means, betrayal equals immediate elimination, huh?"

None of them needed to explain things further, as they already knew several examples where that statement applied, one of them being the girl herself.

"Hi, everyone!" Sonoko's loud voice rang through Conan's ears.

"Sonoko! What happened to your hair?"

"It was time for an image change. Just like her, I had to get a perm."

That was the moment when Conan raised his head and stared, eyes widening behind glasses. "Well, how does it look?" Sonoko moved her hair around, and suddenly the child was reminded of the photo of a ten year older Haibara he had seen not that long ago.

When Sonoko's eyes narrowed in annoyance, Conan realized he might have been staring a bit too much. "Looks like you have a comment," the girl placed her hands on her waist.

"Eh... no."

"Ah, you're just admiring Sonoko-san!" teased Mitsuhiko.

"Is that right, Conan?" Genta did the same.

"I'd rather gouge my eyes out with an unsharpened pencil."

"I can go get one for you if you want," Haibara's smirk made its appearance.

And as Sonoko glared at Conan, who in turn glared at the young scientist, Ayumi sat back on her seat, inside the car. _Maybe I need a perm too... _she thought, holding a strand of her own straight hair in front of her eyes.

* * *

"Everyone, allow me to welcome you to the Tokiwa Corporation's Twin Tower Buildings' Opening Party."

Every single guest in that giant ballroom focused their attention to the stage, where Tokiwa Mio was standing, dressed in a beautiful pink dress and a very expensive-looking pearl necklace. Smile still on place, she announced she had prepared a game for the 30th anniversary of the corporation. The 30-seconds game.

To say that Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta were elated by the coincidence was more than an understanding.

She also had said that, whoever correctly assumed the thirty seconds ─ or came the closest to that mark ─ would receive a Mustang Convertible. If there was a tie, they would settle with _janken, _and the loser would receive a mountain bike in its place.

"I'm alright," Conan simply waved his hand to the worker that had approached him, basket in hand so he could surrender his watch and phone ─ which he didn't have, they had all decided to leave behind at home, since Ran had pointed out that they could get them lost in such a big party.

"Same here," Haibara refused as well.

Conan watched, curiously, as he went then to Kisaragi, claiming that he didn't have a watch, and that he wouldn't be playing either. Shrugging a bit, he turned back to his friend.

"You aren't playing again, huh?" he commented, hands sliding inside his pockets. "Are you still in a bad mood, or...?"

"I'm not interested, I don't want to give them my watch for a car that I'll not even be able to drive."

Tilting his head, Conan considered his words. "You could get the bike," he pointed out. To his surprise, Haibara frowned then looked away. "Hey, hey, does that mean that you...?"

"There are plenty of people in this world that do not know either."

Conan didn't know what to say in return, realizing that, considering her early childhood, it should have been a bit more evident that she might not know such a thing as riding a bike...

_Now again, she was there, right? That girl from Sakura Class was her, and she had more or less confirmed it..._

"_There are things that are better left off the way they are... If you probe any deeper..."_

_If I probe any deeper... What? _

He let out a long, exhausted sigh. _Why is it that she loves beating around the bushes? I would have much preferred if she just said I'd die or something..._

_... Actually, that's not true._

"And what about you?" Conan blinked when he noticed he was being addressed. "You're not taking part of this either."

"I don't feel comfortable leaving this either," he stated, pointing at his wristwatch.

"So you still believe that one of them is here?"

Conan frowned at her, not saying anything for a moment as he noticed their three friends walking forward with a few other kids, colourful flags on hand. Their eyes fell on the pair, and blinked.

There was also a disillusioned glint in Ayumi's eyes as she took notice of him, but Conan didn't understand the reason.

"Say, Haibara-san," he then spoke. "Can you, uh, smell them?"

"I'm not a dog, Kudo-kun."

"You said you could pick up their scent, do you have a better explanation?"

The sole reply he got after that was an unamused look. "I can't _feel _them here, if that's what you're talking about," she shrugged. "Well, before you run-head first into trouble, at least tell me so I can move aside," there was a dangerous glint on her eyes as she finished. "I didn't enjoy being snipped with a tranquilizer dart. _At all._"

Conan's reaction at her murderous glare was immediate, his face was pale white the next moment and beads of cold sweat began to make their way down his forehead.

More than satisfied with his response, Haibara let out a smirk before turning her attention back to the stage, when Kogoro had been declared as the winner ─ by pure look, since he had gotten distracted by a crying baby and raised his hand just because the people around were doing the same ─ and, as much as it had surprised him, Conan couldn't pay attention to it.

_Forget about the Organization. This demon right here is out of blood... My blood._

After some very embarrassing words from Kogoro ─ such as '_now I can say goodbye to car payments' _─ the lights went off and a projector screen slowly lowered from the ceiling until it completely covered the window to the B Tower. Several paintings were shown, all belonging to Kisaragi Hosui, and obviously were about Mount Fuji.

"Kisaragi-sensei primarily focuses on the painting of Mount Fuji. He has spent over thirty years painting Mount Fuji from its many angles and now, to commemorate Tokiwa Mio's Twin Towers Buildings..." the announcer motioned to the curtains behind him. "His newest work: _Spring Fuji!_"

The curtains moved so they could show what they hid behind. As everyone had been told, Kisaragi's work was displayed for everyone to see, but it didn't have the reaction anyone would have expected. Screams of horror filled the room, as they took into the scene that was shown right in front of their eyes.

Tokiwa Mio's body was hanging from the ceiling, splitting Mount Fuji in two halves.

* * *

"Inspector, I know the identity of our killer."

_It's coming, isn't it?_

"Our killer..."

_God, yes. It is._

"Sawaguchi Minami-san, it's you!"

_Knew it._

What followed after that was a bunch of nonsense put together by the detective in order to create a somehow plausible theory of why she would have done such a thing. Such as pointing out that she had been born in the year of the boar and that the kanji for the word for 'sake cup' could be rearranged so it could read 'boar'. And like so, she would be revealing her identity by breaking the sake cups.

The motive had to be her father, an ambitious journalist who had opposed politicians quite often. After his death, she had begun working with Tokiwa as her secretary, but had supposedly witnessed Mio and Hara attempting to bribe Councilman Oki and she hadn't been able to allow it. Hence, she had resorted to murder. Three separate times.

Even Megure and Shiratori were impressed. It made perfect sense...

"That's just some rubbish you came up with."

Except it didn't.

The snobbish laugh was interrupted so the great detective could turn around to face the young boy standing behind so casually ─ as if there wasn't a dead body in that same room ─ with his hands inside his pockets and a plain, almost bored, look on his eyes.

If Inspector Megure hadn't known any better, he might as well have believed Conan was Kudo Shinichi, only smaller and with glasses.

"What did you say?!" Kogoro argued, angrily.

His expression didn't change as he crossed his arms behind his head. "The sake cup wasn't broken this time," he pointed out, irritating Kogoro even more. "If she wanted to express her father's ideals-"

"You talk a lot, brat!"

Before he even knew what was happening, Conan found himself flying out ─ quite literally ─ the murder scene. "That hurt!" he groaned, glaring at Kogoro once he landed in the ground, in a rather painfully manner, who simply smirked before turning around. He noted that Megure had sighed and gone back to his work.

Even if the inspector knew his identity, he was still too young to be running around in a murder scene, huh?

"Looks as if you haven't solved it."

"Perceptive as always, Haibara-san," of course, he had landed next to the sarcasm queen and insufferably clever scientist. "If you know, perhaps you could assist me," he couldn't help but huff at the sight of her.

"Let's see, I believe Mio-san has been consuming alcohol," Conan blinked and her smirk only grew wider. "If she hadn't been drinking, wouldn't she realize that someone had attached a piano wire to her necklace?"

That made a lot of sense, actually, yet Conan failed to tie the dots. That was, until something touched his fingers, causing him to take a look down and stare at the pearl that had somehow ended up in the ground. He held it for a few moments in front of his eyes, before they widened.

Jumping back into his feet, the child gave a stunned look at the culprit. _If that person is our killer... How...?_

Soon, he was running and leaving the room, as fast as his feet could take him, until he was back to where the party had been held. He stared, for a few moments, at Mount Fuji displayed from the windows before he went to the one on the other side.

The pool on top of the B Tower met his eyes. _That's it... That's the motive!_

_But if that's so... That certain incident..._

His gaze travelled across the room, looking for any clue, until it fell on the bar. There, in the cabinet, he spotted a certain drink that made his skin crawl, mostly because the realization had suddenly fell on him just like a bucket of ice water.

There, in front of his eyes, were several alcoholic bottles. They were labeled as '_GIN'._

The shock took a moment to recede but, when it did, his lips curved into a knowing smirk. He had figured it all. Every single little thing.

Not that he had time to do anything with this new information. The ground suddenly shook, violently, and the lights went off.

"What's happening here?" asked Megure. Thanks to the faint moon glow, Conan could dimly see him and the rest of the police, plus Kogoro, walking closer.

"An explosion?!" Kazama exclaimed. The kid guessed he was speaking over the phone.

Apparently, it had been the Machinery Room and the Power Generator Room on Basement Level 4, besides the Computer Room on the 40th floor.

Minami mentioned something about losing all the company's important data, and Conan couldn't help but wonder about it.

They had to evacuate, as anyone would expect in a situation like that. Because of the explosion, only the VIP elevator could be utilized, since it had a power generator on its own. But because only so many people could descend at a time, it was decided that all children, women and the elderly would use it, while men would have to go down to the 60th floor by the emergency stairs, then cross the Sky Bridge and descend B Tower to the ground.

"Go, Conan-kun," Ran encouraged the child, once many women and his four friends had stepped inside.

"You should go ahead," he replied.

"Just go," she began to gently guide him inside.

Once one of his feet touched the floor of the elevator, a 'peep' sound told them it was over the limit. "Conan-kun," Ayumi was undoubtedly worried. Mitsuhiko and Genta's expression mirrored hers.

So, he offered them a reassuring smile. "It's alright, I'll be next."

With that, the doors of the elevator closed and his friends' faces disappeared from his sight. Only then, he let his confident expression dissolve into a deep frown, eyes fixed on Kisaragi, as he refused to go in the next elevator with all of them.

Just to be sure, he whispered to Agasa and asked him to keep an eye on the older man.

_The sheer depth of the explosions, the concise planning... Is it possible this was staged by those men in black?_

_That would explain the destruction of the Computer Room, but why the power generators?_

Those thoughts did not leave his mind, even when the doors of the elevator opened and he walked inside, following after Ran and the rest.

Without him realizing, Conan started to pace, back and forth in the small elevator, right behind the legs of Ran and Sonoko. _Was it to disable the sprinklers? _he was so deeply immersed in his own thoughts, he didn't even notice every woman turning to give him a weird look. _Or is it another reason?_

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Conan didn't even have the time to blink confusedly to whoever had spoken to him because he felt the floor leaving his feet. His confusion-pinched expression instantly dulled at the sight of the Suzuki heiress, whose face was closer than it should have been, since she had raised him from the hood of his shirt and in front of her eyes.

Behind her, he could see the lights of the city glimmering in the night, but he paid no attention to it.

"So, what is that you wanted to tell me so badly?" he barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. _Barely._

"You're making me nervous with all that pacing," her eyebrow twitched.

Conan opened his mouth to say something, but Ran, probably sensing that whatever that could come out would definitely _not _be nice, immediately stopped him, with an awkward smile.

Little did any of them know that, from a building right in front of them, yet far away from their position, a gun pointed at them. The silver haired man let out a sadistic, merciless laugh as he took aim.

Partly covered by the bodies of two teenage girls, he could see a kid with blue eyes and he could somehow see a bit of dark hair. The glasses that the child wore were thick, big and so, _so _familiar that Gin could have laughed.

Because he had seen _her _using them, in a lame, _lame _attempt to disguise herself.

_Rest in peace, Sherry. For eternity._

"Come on, Conan-kun," back on the elevator, Ran couldn't help the nervous laugh. "Be a bit easier on Sonoko, she's... scared..."

The smile on her face dropped all of sudden, face gradually growing paler and paler until she was nothing but a sheet of paper with eyes, wide, _wide _eyes that could not stop staring. The kid and her friend blinked, unable to understand what had frightened her so badly.

She couldn't pay attention to that. All she could focus on was the bright red laser point in between Conan's innocent blue eyes.

Everything happened far too fast for the child to realize what was going on, but his mind registered two things. The first one, the sound of the window shattering for no rhyme or reason. The second one was falling.

Ran had tackled him and, with her, Sonoko, into the ground. He heard the heiress yelping out of surprise, but he was far too stunned to do the same. In no time, his back painfully hit the ground, but thankfully his head didn't suffer because she had covered it with her hand.

The elevator stopped and Sonoko stood up, frantically asking Ran what had happened, yet she did not answer, nor she did move. Only pressed Conan's head back into the ground when he attempted to sit.

"R-Ran-neechan?"

"Don't move!"

Startled by the desperation of her voice, Conan managed to get a glance at the glass and gasped, horrified. There was a hole, which he recognized right away.

_A gunshot?! _he panicked. _Why?! Why would they...?!_

His eyes fell on a distressed Sonoko and, upon remembering her resemblance with future Haibara, realized it. Their real intentions.

_If Haibara-san isn't here... Why did they...? Did they mistake her with anyone else?_

_... Oh, no._

Cold sweat dripped down his forehead while Conan finally understood what was happening and was painfully aware that Ran was still protecting him with her body. So he struggled, but Ran did not let up so easily.

"I know what I'm doing, Ran-neechan!"

Confused at his words, the girl's grip went slack without realizing it, an opportunity that Conan immediately took so he could slip away from her arms and, to her horror, run right in front of the glass.

His hands went to his glasses and he activated the newest function Agasa had incorporated on them just a few days ago. He zoomed in and found him, standing in front of a building.

_Come on. Take a good look at me._

Doing his best not to show how badly he was shaking, how terrified he was, the little boy extended his arms to his sides and raised his chin.

_Look at me, Gin!_

Apparently, the man had realized his mistake because he lowered his weapon. Only then, Conan felt himself able to breathe again.

He was so glad he had given up on him that he didn't even think about feeling ashamed of being mistaken for a girl.

"Conan-kun!" Ran was all over him again.

"It's okay now, Ran-neechan," he offered her a reassuring smile, that confused her more than anything. "We need to get out. Raise me up!"

It took a second longer than needed to process his request, but she ultimately nodded, picking up the child and raising him, so he could kick the hatch open. Once out, he turned on the light on his wristwatch and looked around, as Ran helped the others to climb up.

He noticed the doors for the other floor, but with his strength he didn't manage to do anything. Luckily, Ran was there and opened it instead.

Like that, they managed to get into the 45th floor, the one that connected with the Sky Bridge.

Smoke was beginning to fill that floor, so they all hurried to the bridge.

Gin watched the group running on the hall for a moment before dialing a number on his phone. "It's me," he said, once they had picked up. "How about your end?"

"Negative," replied Vodka. "It's all men."

"She must have discovered us and stayed up there. She won't be leaving," his cold smirk widened, if possible. "Blow up the bridges."

Now that the order was given, Gin ended the call and placed the phone back on his pocket, eyes not leaving the building that, in mere seconds, would be nothing but a pile of rubble and dirt.

But his mind wouldn't stop thinking about it, for some reason. The piercing look on that strangely sharp-eyed little boy as he bravely stood in front of everyone in that elevator. If Gin didn't know any better, he would have sworn that kid could see _him._

The defiant, determined glint on his eyes were something that somehow unsettled him, and reminded him of a certain somebody that should be swimming with the fishes right now.

Gin shook his head, however. He was definitely thinking too much into this.

* * *

"Watch out, Conan-kun!"

Deciding that fate itself had some sort of resent against him, Conan slowly sat up, far too horrified about the scene developing in front of him to thank Ran for pushing him away from harm, for the second time today.

Because the Sky Bridge had fallen before Ran and Conan could cross it.

And now the smoke was beginning to catch up with them, there was no way he could ignore it. Not when it was starting, ever so slowly, to make its way into his lungs, causing him to cough, viciously.

He didn't even look at Ran, well aware of her expression as she fussed over him even without seeing her face. Conan could tell she was scared, and he couldn't really blame her. Not when he felt the same way.

It was more than obvious that they were going to meet their end there.

Even if he reassured her he was okay, Ran's eyes did not leave the child, watching with concern as he kept coughing and coughing. One glance to her side and she saw fire. The flames were most likely going to shallow that entire place in a matter of minutes.

_Why? _she felt her chest tightening. _Why is all of this happening, all of sudden?_

Little Conan kept on coughing, causing her hands to tighten their grip on his shoulders, unconsciously. As she looked at him, she couldn't help but recall that laser point on his forehead. That was probably something she would never, ever be able to forget. Well, if they ever got out of there, anyway.

_Whoever did this was after Conan-kun, _she came into the conclusion, a frown present on her face. _Someone... Someone out there is after Conan-kun's life._

She couldn't think of a reason why. Why would anyone want to kill a child, so badly as to blow up an entire building?

The real question, however, was _why. Why does it have to be like this? _

_Why is that Conan-kun can't have the life he deserves? Why is that disgrace always follows him around?_

_... Why can't he just live as the child he is?_

Something akin to determination passed by Ran's fiery gaze as she stood up, earning a confused look from the young boy in front of him, yet she didn't explain. Just rushed to the emergency fire hose against the wall, took it and tied it against a piece of metal from the bridge that had just fallen.

"Ran-neechan, are you-?" he didn't get to finish before she passed the hose around his waist.

"I don't know if it will work like the movies," with a reassuring smile, in spite of the situation, she picked the boy up and secured him tightly against her body. "Just hang on tight, Conan-kun."

He did, simply watching as the girl walked to the edge of the building. Despite knowing how crazy all of this sounded, Conan did not argue, just kept silent as she gazed down at the street beneath them.

They were on the 45th floor. It didn't take a genius to figure what their destiny would be if this stunt failed.

Ran's expression did not waver, even when she felt Conan's eyes on her. They lingered there, for a moment, before he took a look behind her back.

Flames danced around his vision, consuming everything in sight with their extreme warmth. Not a comforting sight, so he turned back to the girl.

"Ran-neechan," his voice was calm, despite the fear he was undoubtedly feeling. "Are you scared?"

"I am," she replied, in all honesty. "But you're with me, Conan-kun," she then turned to see him. "And I can't let you die, no matter what."

Conan's eyes widened behind his glasses, and she only smiled at the sight.

_Yes, life hasn't been fair with Conan-kun. This boy has endured so many hardships in his short existence, but he has gotten through all of that. _

_No matter how hard, Conan-kun has done his best to live._

Conan's surprised expression vanished. A sincere smile graced his lips.

"It's going to be alright, Ran-neechan," he said to her. "Whatever happens, I'm here with you."

Ran couldn't suppress the laugh that bubbled up from her. That little boy would never change, would he?

_To grow up, to fall in love, to have fun and to fail... You still have a lot to live, Conan-kun._

_That's why... That's why I can let it all end here._

Just before she was going to do anything, they heard her phone blaring in her pocket and they two giggled, despite the situation, knowing who was calling without even looking at it.

"This must be all over the news right now," Conan pointed out. "You did tell him we were coming here, after all."

_... I can't die here, either._

_Not until I can see him again... Until he comes back home and everything goes back the way it's supposed to be._

_... And that I can finally kick that idiot in the face for all the trouble he has caused._

She could already feel the warmth of the flames caressing her back, so Ran gave Conan a last look and, upon feeling his limbs tightening their hold against her, the girl finally jumped.

As they fell, Ran gritted her teeth, Conan crossed his eyes shut...

And Kogoro screamed.

Finally, they stopped falling and Ran used the momentum so she could kick the window open, but just barely shattered it.

For less than a second, which honestly felt like a long more, they just hung on the air, looking up just to realize that the hose was burning. This instigated Ran to act.

She pushed herself from the wall, before trying again. This time she managed to break through the window, just in time for the hose to burn out.

Even though they were safe, Ran just remained there, on the floor, hugging Conan tightly, before she released him. Once he did, he gave her a wide, bright grin.

"You're amazing, Ran-neechan."

Upon seeing his smile, she couldn't help but mirror his actions.

"I believe you gave Occhan a heart-attack, though."

He wasn't wrong, they realized once they saw him in the safety of firm ground. Even when scowling, and walking towards them with his hands inside his pockets, watching Sonoko fussing over his daughter, they could clearly see his pale face and still shaking body.

Conan decided he looked as if he was about to faint.

A rain of shattered glass caused the little boy to swallow any comment on that and to run away, beside the others, so they wouldn't get hurt.

Once he determined they were finally safe, Conan let out a long, relieved sigh in spite of the hellish sight in front of him. The flames were covering the 45th floor as a whole, completely taking over the elevator they had just been in a few moments ago.

By the corner of his eye, he noticed that Ran was looking at him so he flashed her a tired smile, nodding at her. She did the same, before plucking her phone out of her pants' pocket.

"Sorry," the professor said to the child, once the girl had stepped away so she could talk. "I lost track of him on the way."

Conan figured that, had it been any other time, he would have felt a bit mad. But as things were now, he couldn't bring himself to care _that _much. Not when they all could be dead at this very moment.

That sense of relief and peace soon washed away when he realized that he couldn't see his friends. Anywhere.

Sweat dripping down his chin, he immediately pulled his detective badge out. "Ayumi-chan, Genta, Mitsuhiko, Haibara-san," Megure and everyone in the group turned around at the frantic tone in the child's voice. "Do you hear me?"

"I hear you, Conan-kun!" Ayumi's cheerful response was instant.

"Where are you all?"

"We're at the entrance to the Sky Bridge on the 60th floor," Mitsuhiko informed.

A collective gasp was heard, even from Ran's side, and Conan's eyes immediately fell on the burning building in front of him. _They... _his mouth hung open, and the badge almost slipped away from his fingers because of the shock. _They're up there?!_

Sounds started to fill the place again, hurried orders from the inspector, such as calling for an helicopter, and rushing, lots of rushing.

But all those were nothing but muffled noises, gradually lowering down until they became a mere shrill annoying whistle on his ears that had suddenly gone deaf. The world around him was moving so fast, yet Conan couldn't move, couldn't do anything. Just stare at the flames that were eating everything away with a blank, almost lifeless look.

Then...

Then, he heard it.

"Conan-kun... Are we going to die?"

With a sharp intake of air, Conan's eyes shot back to the badge that rested on his hand and for a moment, he _saw _them. In their classroom, in their desks, sitting all beside each other like any other day.

Smiling, happy, _together._

The next moment, Conan was all alone. Sitting in that lonely, sad place that used to be so lively before.

He bit his lip.

_I'm sorry. _

_I really am, Ran-neechan._

Before he registered it, his feet were moving towards Kogoro's rental car and grabbing his skateboard.

_But just like you..._

Once he collected his gadget, Conan took off running, as fast as he could, not looking back even once.

_There are people I can't lose, no matter what._

"Ran!" Shinichi's desperate call on her ear brought her attention away from the burning building. "What's going on there?"

"Ai-chan and the others are still in the building!" she informed him. "They are still up there! Detective Takagi just called a helicopter, but-!"

"Where's Conan?!" she blinked at that question, not understanding where that came from. "Ran, is he still there?!"

"What do you mean? He is right..." Ran trailed off when she noticed she could not see him anywhere. "Conan-kun?!" everyone turned at the sound of her terrified gasp. "Conan-kun is not here!"

"Eh?!" the police, plus Kogoro exclaimed, stunned.

There was not such a shocked sound from Shinichi's side. Just a scowl. "That stupid kid," was all he muttered, before he hung up on her.

* * *

Conan didn't know what possessed him to actually answer the Earring Cellphone he carried with him when it beeped. But he still did.

"Conan! Just what do you think you're doing?!" the stern, panicked and very, _very _annoyed sound resounded on his ears.

But instead of annoying him, it made the child smile instead, content to just listen to the voice that shouted at him, even as he stepped inside the elevator.

He didn't know how to answer his question. He wasn't sure of what he was doing, but it felt... right, somehow. _Out of everything I have ever done, that's the most reckless thing I have ever done in my life, eh?_

_And that's saying a lot._

"... You're going to get yourself killed if you-!"

"I know."

Shinichi paused at that.

"I'm probably going to die, I know that already," he continued, far too calm for a child that was aware of the tragic destiny that awaited him. "But there's also something else I know. If I let them die, all alone, without trying to do something, anything to avoid it..." a sincere smile crossed his face. "... I don't think I would ever be able to live with myself."

For a second or so, his brother had fallen quiet, yet Conan did not rush him. Just stared at the numbers of the elevator slowly going up and up, and wished that they would just hurry up.

"Please, Conan, please," he couldn't help but notice that his voice had quivered, slightly, with desperation. "Don't do this."

His smile only stretched wider.

"Just make sure you don't make Ran-neechan cry, okay?"

"... Don't..."

"I will haunt you if you do."

"Conan-!"

Pressing the end button, Shinichi's voice suddenly stopped sounding, and now the elevator was eerily silent. _Just a bit more, guys, _he said, on his head, while looking at the numbers, that rose steadily.

Taking a deep breath, Conan glanced one last time at the miniature phone resting on top of his hand.

A bittersweet smile crossed his face, upon finally realizing why he had answered his brother's call.

Unconsciously, he had just wanted to hear him one last time until it was _all _over.

The smile was replaced by a focused frown as soon as the doors began to open, and he ran out of that elevator.

Without even stopping or giving out an explanation, the child promptly snatched a flashlight from the hands of one of the firefighters that were around. By the time the man had noticed it, the child had gotten on his skateboard.

Before anyone could realize what was going on, the child was _flying, _riding his skateboard across the sky, before he reached the other side.

The boy rolled on the ground, wincing at the impact, not caring about the skateboard that had failed to make it to the other side.

"That was awesome!"

"So cool!"

"You're our brave hero!"

Sighing loudly, Conan stood up.

"Save that for when we get out of here."

* * *

A/N:

Bry: I'm not sure, actually. I might do one of them, but at the moment I can't really tell.


	55. To Make a Miracle Happen

**File Fifty-Five: To Make a Miracle Happen**

_Conan-kun... Where are you, Conan-kun?!_

He wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere.

Yet, Ran still continued to look for Conan, eyes frantically darting around, through the crowd of people, hoping to see him there, safe. But, apparently, fate was there to make her, and everyone close to her, suffer.

Because something fell right at her feet, causing her to jump back, startled. Her, and everyone's, eyes opened widely when they realized it was a skateboard, broken in pieces.

"That's Conan-kun's skateboard!" Agasa exclaimed.

"Wait!" Shiratori, who was just looking at the building with his binoculars, shouted, visually astonished. "Conan-kun just flew over the Sky Bridge!"

"The brat did what?!" Kogoro's eyes were wide, as he looked back at the burning tower. _What is he doing?!_

Before anything could be said or done, Megure's phone started ringing.

"Inspector," the inspector was stunned when he heard the young voice at the other side of the line. "We're heading back to the roof. Have the helicopter meet us there."

"Where are you all now?!"

He didn't get an answer, since the child simply hung up on him. After taking a moment to blink at his phone, Megure grumbled, dialing a number so he could call somebody else.

Without any further work, the police members went to work again, doing their best so they could save those innocent children that remained trapped inside that tower.

But as things were now, Ran could only stare. Stare at the flames and hope that the entire building didn't crumble under their destructive force.

Her eyes travelled to his skateboard and kneeled down in front of it. _Conan-kun, _she frowned, taking one of the broken pieces.

Her grasp tightened around it.

"It will be okay, Ran," shocked, Ran looked up to see her father. "He will make it out."

Ran couldn't think of anything to reply. Even his father had this deep, almost concerned, frown every single time he glanced at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers.

* * *

"Alright then," completely unaware of how many people he was worrying outside the building, Conan started to walk. "Let's get going. We still have fifteen floors to climb."

It took a few moments for everyone to process his words. "Eh?!" Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi groaned, in unison, earning a quiet, but sincere giggle from the young scientist, as she went to follow after the boy.

Who didn't even turn around to face them, just continued to climb up, hand gripping tightly into the flashlight. Haibara didn't comment on that, as she thought she could imagine what kind of thoughts were currently plaguing his mind.

Except she couldn't, and she wasn't even aware of that.

"_You're our brave hero!" _Mitsuhiko had exclaimed when he had seen him making his appearance. Little did he know that, to Conan, those words were far from a mere praise.

They were nothing but lies in his ears, and Conan couldn't shake them off.

_You're wrong, Mitsuhiko. Terribly wrong._

_A hero is strong and has a good heart. Is a person that puts other people's needs and wishes above their own. Is someone that would never, ever hurt somebody else._

_A selfless individual._

_And I'm far, far from being like that._

Turning around, he glanced at the group behind them, who were grinning brightly and chatting cheerfully despite the situation they were at, and he couldn't help but let out a timid smile of his own.

_I'm selfish. Despite what everyone has done to keep me safe, I still throw it all away, just like that._

Nodding to himself, Conan looked back ahead again.

_I'm no hero, there's no doubt about that. I'm too selfish for that._

_... But if being selfish means I can stay in this word with them, even if it's just a tiny bit longer... Even if it's just a couple of minutes after this building collapses and we all meet our inevitable demise..._

_Then, I'm fine with it._

Eventually, they made it to floor 75th but, instead of going up to the rooftop, Conan paused, thought about it, before giving the flashlight to a puzzled Mitsuhiko. "You guys go ahead," he said to them. "I'll be right behind you."

"... Eh?" the freckled boy finally reacted. "Conan-kun, what about you?"

But it was too late, a door had already opened and his bespectacled friend was gone, just like Haibara, who had chosen to follow after him, without a word. As a result, all Mitsuhiko could do was to stare at the door, sigh, then turn around to do as he had been told.

"Hey!" Genta yelled at the door, in hopes that any of them could actually hear him. "Where are you two going?!"

"Genta-kun," the boy in question turned around at the mention of his name. "Conan-kun knows what he's doing."

Genta blinked twice, before he raised an eyebrow. "He just jumped back into A Tower on a skateboard."

"... E-Eh..." Mitsuhiko seemed to be troubled. "... Let's just scout out the roof. He said he would come back."

All he could do was to _hope _that Conan knew what he was doing. Sighing loudly, Mitsuhiko hurried upstairs, flashlight in hand and his other two friends in tow.

Back in Floor 75th, Conan walked in the middle of darkness, only the light of his wristwatch illuminating his surroundings. It was quiet, neither he nor Haibara tried to disturb the silence. He didn't mind it, as it helped him focus into the case at hand better.

And Haibara took the moment to observe him better. She was rendered, however, unable to understand what was going through his mind.

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed something else, however. There, standing right next to the window that led to Mount Fuji, there was a person, faintly illuminated by the moonlight.

"It's the murderer of Oki-san and Mio-san," the boy replied even before she could ask a question. The figure heard him and slowly turned around. "The person that admired Mount Fuji the most, to the point of obsession. Which isn't healthy. You knew that already, didn't you, Kisaragi Hosui-san?"

Hosui frowned but, besides that, he barely reacted. "Who are you?" he asked, calm as he had always been.

"Edogawa Conan, detective," Conan's expression barely changed as well. "And, no. I'm not imitating a detective, like you pointed out before. When we went to your house," a small smirk appeared. "It was quite the nice one. Too bad the curtain in the art room covered a sight that would be breathtaking otherwise. The Mount Fuji."

The frown on Hosui's face deepened.

"Ah, yeah, you wouldn't see it either. Not when the Nishitamashi Twin Tower Buildings split the mount in half," his eyes narrowed. "But you knew that, already. That's why you killed them both."

The broken cup resembled the Mount Fuji split, and in Mio's case it wasn't broken because the message had been clear enough. Mio's body had already been doing the work.

At first, Haibara couldn't really understand how Mio's murder had been committed, until Conan explained it. Hosui had given her a pearl necklace and asked her to wear it. After that, all he had to do was to unfasten it, and replace it with another one that had been hooked with a piano wire, with the excuse of putting it back for her.

"Wait," Haibara spoke up. "Kisaragi-san had an alibi from when Hara-san was killed."

"No wonder he has one, since he didn't kill him. Just got lucky and placed the cup when he found the body later on."

Haibara blinked, completely taken away by that reveal, and watched Conan as he stared back at her, eyes conflicted for some reason, before turning back to the culprit.

"That's some impressive reasoning, little detective," despite everything the child had said, Hosui had yet to look bothered about all that. "Yet, your reasoning lacks-"

"Evidence? Yeah, got that covered. It's in your cane," for the first time, the old man flinched just a tiny little bit. "The first necklace Mio-san wore should be inside."

Hosui merely looked at him, for the longest time, before he lowered his head in defeat and revealed that, indeed, there was a pearl necklace hidden inside his cane.

"I'm interested in knowing how you discovered that."

Conan smirked, crossing his arms behind his head. "The sound," he pointed out. "It made different sounds before and after Mio-san's death."

The culprit couldn't help but let out a resigned chuckle. "Now I know you aren't an imitation," he said to him. "You can't fool the ears of a detective."

None of the children replied to that, just listening to him confess what Conan had pointed out just a few moments ago. For the last ten years he had been climbing the hill to do his paintings, but because his age was making it hard for his body, he had decided to devote his remaining years to painting Mount Fuji. So, he had purchased the hill and built a house.

"From that room, Mount Fuji was available in its entire beauty," he opened a bottle with ink and emptied its contents over a broom. "But that woman... DID THIS!"

In a fit of rage, the old man turned around, broom in hand, and drew a pitch black line across his latest painting.

For the longest moment, none of them did anything. The children merely stared at the man, who was panting heavily after ruining his painting.

Conan frowned, taking into the man that turned around to face him, before sighing, closing his eyes.

"You're not an artist, Kisaragi-san," he finally spoke. "You're not an imitator either. From the moment the thought of ending another life crossed your life, you became nothing but a murderer," Conan looked back at him, stare hardening and eyes narrowing. "All you strived for, all you lived for, the mere reason for your existence... You threw it all away. Now that they are dead, what will you do? All you managed was to splatter those paintings you cherished with their blood."

The culprit didn't argue, or give any indication of feeling like his words made no sense. Just stared at the boy with his steadily widening eyes, before his entire face relaxed. And let out an amused smirk.

"Such wise words such for a young child. Wiser than most adults that I have ever met through my long, long life," his hand went to his pocket and pulled out a small vial that caused Conan to gasp. "Wiser than me, I can see that now."

He raised the vial to his lips, but before he could even touch it with his lips, a needle flew through the air. Not even a second later, the poison vial rolled on the floor, and Hosui fell at it's side with a loud thud.

And Conan let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Honestly," his hands fell limply at his sides. "I hate it when criminals do that."

Haibara seemed interested. "It sounds like you have been through situations like this before," she commented.

"A couple of times," he commented, walking closer to the old man and giving him a hard look, placing his hands inside his pockets. "If I, after cornering a culprit with my reasoning, allowed them to end their life in front of my eyes, would I be any different from a murderer?"

His fingers grasped the miniature phone, which he had silenced after arriving at that tower, was vibrating on his hand. "It took me a bit to understand it, but I eventually did," a smile, almost sad on Haibara's eyes, appeared on his face. "Thanks to that idiot detective I have as a brother."

"Aren't you going to answer?" Conan wasn't surprised that she could tell it was vibrating.

He seemed to hesitate, but eventually shook his head. "I will call once we get out of here," he replied, as he began to walk away, passing by her without any other word.

"_If _we get out of here," she stressed, causing Conan to pause. He didn't look at her, though. "There's someone out to get us, isn't it? The same one that killed Hara-san."

The fact that the boy wasn't able to deny it made Haibara all the more nervous.

"Who is it?" she turned around, a frown carved deeply onto her face. "You know who killed Hara-san, don't you?"

"And you do as well, right? Or at least, you have a feeling you know," his serious eyes finally met hers as he turned around. "Hara-san was holding a silver knife when he died. Silver written in romaji is '_gin'. _If you speak of _gin _as an alcohol, the pronunciation changes. "

_Gin,_ the lack of further reaction let Conan know she really _did _know. Or at least, she had the feeling that the Organization was related.

"It's likely that Hara-san was facing Gin at gunpoint so he grabbed the knife from the table. Gin probably believed he was drawing it in self-defense, therefore failed to realize his message. Hara-san's dying message."

Some conflict behind his eyes let Haibara know that the young sleuth in front of her wasn't sure if telling her all of this was the right thing, but he did end up telling her he suspected that Hara had probably been a member of the Organization, who accessed some secret data from their computers, and because of that, the data had to be erased from existence.

Because of that, the Tokiwa Corporation's main computer, which was likely used to access the data, had been destroyed.

Haibara crossed her arms, holding her chin as she thought about that for a moment. _Something... _the girl narrowed her eyes. _Something about that doesn't... Doesn't make sense._

Oblivious of her internal conflict, Conan resumed his way out the room, when the light on his wrist watch suddenly faded. Groaning, the boy glared at his gadget, coming into the realization that the batteries had died, and that the same had happened to Haibara's shortly after the Sky Bridge had collapsed.

"I'll head up and get help for moving Kisaragi-san," he said to her, before running off. "Wait here, okay?"

The scientist watched the detective disappearing in darkness, before shrugging and sitting up in a stoll. With a sigh, she rested her elbows in the bar and patiently waited for her friends to return.

Her mind wouldn't stop going back to Hara. _I don't remember ever hearing about him, _she thought, her gaze absently wandering around, looking at the many, many alcohol bottles that stood in the cabinet. _By the looks of it, Hara-san was probably an unnamed member._

_... Then how did such an unimportant pawn of the Organization get access to information that was so important that made Gin decide to blow up a building just to get rid of it?_

All thoughts went into an abrupt halt when she noticed something. Between the bottles, there was light shining through the darkness.

* * *

At the sight of the helicopter, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko beamed, joy cursing through their veins and causing them to jump up and down, undoubtedly happy that they were finally going to get out of that scary place.

Too bad Gin and Vodka had other plans. Upon seeing the vehicle, the latter had smirked, before pressing a red button.

The feeling of happiness the children felt vanished into nothing as soon as they began to hear explosions. Horrified, they couldn't help but stare at the vicious flames that were dancing in front of their eyes, preventing the helicopter from reaching them.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Conan's voice reached their ears. "Come here, quick!"

They didn't waste a second longer, dashing towards him and down the stairs. Once safe inside the 75th floor, the three children collapsed on the floor, gasping for air, wondering what was wrong with that building.

Conan could only shrug.

"It seems like we'll have to wait for the flames to burn out," he pointed out.

"Doesn't look like we have that much time."

Not quite understanding what was happening, the four of them looked to Haibara, who was looking under a random tablecloth. Conan was the first one to react, rushing forward so he could see what she meant.

He immediately noticed it.

"... A bomb?!" he gasped.

The other three mirrored his reaction, yet Haibara's expression didn't change much. "Every table has one," she simply pointed out. "The timer..."

They turned to see another bomb. The shining numbers were clear in the middle of the darkness, and it read '00:06:09'.

As the children ─ minus Haibara ─ promptly panicked, Conan gritted his teeth, eyes instantly roaming around the room, looking for something, _anything, _to avoid their inevitable fate.

"But why?!" cold sweat rolled down Genta's forehead. "Why would someone do this?"

"Does it have to do with that scary car Conan-kun saw the other time?" Ayumi spoke, in a low voice.

"Could those dangerous men be targeting someone?" Mitsuhiko's eyes widened. "Who?"

"... Isn't that obvious?" Haibara's eyes narrowed, as all three of them turned around. "The target is none other than Sherry."

She noticed the way Conan flinched a bit, avoiding her gaze with a frown. Haibara didn't receive, and focused her eyes on him. "Don't bother trying to cover up, Kudo-kun, I noticed it already. Without Hara-san here, there's no reason for them to blow up a building."

The boy released a long sigh, but didn't add anything to that.

"B-But Haibara-san, isn't Sherry...?" Mitsuhiko trailed off.

"Yeah, it's me," her voice was emotionless as she continued. "The traitor that not only betrayed the Organization, but also put every and each of the people that trusted in her in terrible danger..." but, despite how dull it sounded, even they could hear the pain. "... and to their death," she let out an humorless chuckle, turning around so she could face the window. The next she said could barely be heard. "I apologize, everyone. Up until the end, I..."

"Don't say that!" through the quietness of the night, the shout broke through. They all faced Ayumi, and they noticed that there were tears on her eyes. "Ai-chan... You didn't do anything wrong! Or at least, you _didn't _want to... Please, don't say that you..."

Haibara was quite shocked, and it showed on her face. Her mouth opened to talk, but she didn't find the right words.

"Ayumi-chan is right," Mitsuhiko nodded. "Besides, there has to be a way out of here!" he turned to Conan, hope glimmering on his eyes. "Right, Conan-kun?!"

All hope diluted when Conan lowered his head and closed his eyes. "We're on the 75th floor, Mitsuhiko," frustration could be heard on his voice. "To think that we can escape in less than five minutes is a bit-"

His eyes flew open when he felt a pair of hands grasping his arms, tightly. "What has gotten into you?!" to say that he was a bit surprised when Genta shook him a bit, a serious frown on his face, was an understatement. "You... You _always _manage to think of something! No matter how tight the situation is, you always come up with a solution, don't you, Conan?!"

Conan scowled, suddenly annoyed at this friend in front of him. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I am a wizard, Genta!" he snapped. "What do you want me to do?! This is the 75th floor, there's fire above and beneath us, don't you see?!"

"You just _flew_ across the Sky Bridge! You're telling me there is actually no way you can make anything... any kind of miracle happen?! Hey, Co-!"

Genta suddenly came into a stop when he saw his friend's eyes suddenly widening from no apparent reason, the irritated glint on his gaze gone and replaced with sheer astonishment. He didn't react, even when Genta slowly released him.

_... Fly across..._

His friends exchanged confused looks, when lights abruptly illuminated everything around them. Only then did Conan snap from his haze to run towards the window, followed by the others, just to realize that everyone was on the roof of B Tower.

A group of firefighters rushed to the edge of the roof, fire hoses on hand. Yet, the water did not reach.

Conan's hand gently pressed against the glass. _Ran-neechan, _he didn't have to see her face to know she was looking at the burning building with concern, and fear, glimmering on her eyes. And, some way or another, he was glad he couldn't see her, since he didn't like seeing her sad.

His phone was still vibrating on his pocket, a feeling he had grown used to since he had rode his skateboard to this place.

He couldn't do this to her. He couldn't do this to his brother. And, most definitely, he couldn't do this to his friends, who were also beside him, eager to see the light again ─ that also included Haibara. She might have been acting strong and nonchalant until now, but her hands were shaking. Not that much, but enough for his detective eyes to notice.

... But what could he do?

Then, he took notice of something and let out a gasp. "The roof," everyone turned to him, mostly perplexed.

Their confusion grew more evident when he took off running, only to pause in front of the Mustang that Kogoro had won a few moments before this disaster. _Yes, the keys are here!_

"I see!" Mitsuhiko was the first one to realize. "We'll use the car to fly to the other building!"

"Impossible," Haibara stated. "If you want to make it to..."

"You will need 108 km/h," Conan spoke, quickly, before Haibara would begin to explain physics to their friends, which they most likely wouldn't be able to understand. "From the length of this room, the most we'll get is 50 or 60 km/h. At those speeds, we'll hit the ground before reaching the tower..." but then, he opened the trunk. "But how about this?"

Haibara was surprised. "Are you..." more than surprised, actually. "... going to use the explosion as an accelerator?!"

"... What?" Genta was clueless as always.

"Conan-kun wants to use the shockwave from the explosion to get us to the other side!" explained Mitsuhiko.

"What?!"

Conan smirked, despite the situation. "Only death will meet us here," he stated, and Genta quietened down. "This is crazy, I know. Most likely insane... But we need to make _this _miracle happen."

Frowning, Genta nodded, determined to do his work the best he could. The other two instantly adopted the same resolve, paying close attention as the boy explained his plan to them. Since Conan's watch's batteries had died, Ayumi was to count from 30 to 0, since she was so good at it.

"I'm not really sure I can do it, but..." she confessed. "But if I'm with Conan-kun... If Conan-kun is beside me, I can do it."

None of the boys in question understood what she meant with it, just blinked cluelessly at her.

"Then, let me sit by the timer and count us down to 30," Haibara proposed, calmly. "After that I'll get in the car."

"There's no time to deliberate. Let's do it," Conan nodded. "Is there any other question?"

"Uh, yeah," Mitsuhiko raised his hand, almost hesitantly. "Do you know how to drive a car, Conan-kun?"

"... Well, no really," he put on an awkward smile, making everyone blink at him. "But I know someone who does."

Not that they understood what he meant with that, but they decided to trust him anyway. Mitsuhiko and Genta were soon gone to fetch Hosui, as Conan had requested, and Haibara went to sit by the bomb, so she could count. Ayumi anxiously paced around, doing her best to remain calm until it was time.

And Conan, standing next to the window, pulled the phone out and called Megure. "Conan-kun?!" the inspector shouted once he picked up. "Are you all okay?!"

"Yeah, for now," he explained, briefly. "This room is full of bombs."

"What?! What do you mean with-?!"

"Open the roof on the dome," he interrupted, not having the time to deal with his shock. "Don't ask, just do it!"

Taking on the serious tone of the child's voice, he turned to Kazama and relayed the message. Once he had gotten his word across, the young boy was about to hang up, when Ran suddenly snatched the phone away from him.

"What are you going to do, Conan-kun?" she asked, fear present on her words.

"Ran-neechan," Conan merely smiled. "I'm coming back home."

"Eh?"

He didn't even grace her with a reply, finishing the call in an instant.

_Yeah, that's right,_ turning around, he walked towards the car, where his friends were already getting ready. Hosui had already been carried to the backseat, which he shared with Mitsuhiko. On the passenger seat sat Genta and fidgeting in the driver seat was Ayumi.

_We're going to make it._

Haibara's voice filled his ears as she counted down. They had little over a minute.

_We all are coming back home tonight._

And the phone on his hand got a call. This time around, he answered it.

"Hey, are you-?!"

"How do you drive a car?"

"Huh?!"

"I don't have much time to explain," Conan sighed, as he jumped inside the car, settling between Ayumi and Genta. "Are you watching TV right now?"

Swallowing his pride, Conan decided that practicity was better than conserving what little dignity he had left. So, he clipped the phone on his ear.

He didn't need a mirror to know he looked ridiculous.

"Of course I am."

"Keep watching," a smirk crossed his face. "A wonderful miracle, worthy of making the one and only Kaito KID jealous, might happen."

Shinichi let out a long sigh, probably wondering what he was doing with his life. He was, after all, about to coach an eight year-old child to _drive_ ─ that, without taking into account what the real plan was.

"Alright, Conan, is not that hard. First, you have to..."

Listening to his brother, he took the key and started the engine.

Haibara's count was somewhere to forty, which meant that Ayumi was about to take over. So, he looked at the girl in question, who was nervously looking around, and wrapped his hand against hers, giving her a comforting squeeze.

She looked at him, and he smiled. _It will be okay, _he didn't need words to express his thoughts. Ayumi blushed a bit, returning the smile.

"Conan?"

The boy in question focused momentarily on his brother, taken aback by the crystal clear concern in his voice. "You have..." Shinichi took a deep breath. "You have to make it out alive, you understand?"

Despite the situation at hand, Conan let out a smile. "Perfectly."

"... 34, 33," Haibara continued counting. "32, 31..."

"30," closing her eyes, Ayumi took over. "29..."

"28..."

"Haibara-san!"

The panic in Mitsuhiko's voice worried him, but when he explained that Haibara was still counting down, Conan felt his stomach sinking somewhere on his knees.

"Haibara, what are you doing?!" Genta yelled at her. "Hurry over here!"

"Don't be stupid. Isn't this more accurate?"

_She can't be actually planning to stay behind, can she?!_

"You're the idiot!" yelled Conan over his shoulder. "Haibara-san, you better-!"

"Focus, Conan," the boy actually paused when Shinichi spoke up. "You said timing is important."

The child in question hesitated, glancing at the girl once more, before turning to the phone.

"As much as you hate it, you need to stay where you are," the older sibling continued, trying to sound as calm as he could. "If you don't do what you have to do, this miracle won't happen, will it?"

"I know that much! But..."

"Besides, you aren't doing this alone, are you?"

"Eh?"

On the other hand, Haibara never stopped counting down. She didn't stop, nor did she slow down, upon the sound of her friends' voices, calling her name, desperate to get her to come along.

"27, 26, 25..."

_This is the right way, after all. The only reason they are in this situation is because of my weakness. _

_Yes, because I was soft. Because I longed to hear Onee-chan's voice one more time._

"24, 23, 23..."

_As long as I am around, people are bound to suffer. To die, even if they had done nothing to deserve it. All because of my mistakes._

_They don't deserve to succumb to this cruel fate. As long as they get out..._

"22, 21..."

_That's why this is the right way._

Before she could continue with her self-imposed work, Haibara heard someone coming their way. Her eyes instantly shifted away from the bomb and to the source, just to see Genta running straight to her, who grabbed her and carried her to the car before she had the chance to say anything.

"My mom said that if you even leave a bit of rice behind, the gods will punish you!"

Quite honestly, Haibara didn't know what to think about that unusual analogy.

Not that she had time to ponder about it any longer, because she was then thrown inside the car, only for Mitsuhiko to catch her. "We're leaving!" informed Conan, as Genta jumped in.

The car started to move, breaking through the glass as soon as the explosion took place. As expected, the car was propelled forward because of the shock wave.

"WHAT THE-?!" had he been in any other situation, Conan would have actually laughed at the surprise Shinichi displayed upon seeing a car flying in the air from his TV screen.

Because she hadn't even had the time to put her safety belt on, the sudden motion caused Haibara to slip and fall out of the car. Mitsuhiko's fast reflexes, however, let him grasp her hand. "I'll never let go!" the boy screamed, keeping an iron grip on her friend.

Conan glanced at them, before looking back front and gasped, upon the realization that one of the glass formations that decorated the pool was going to hit the girl. Without wasting time, he activated his shoes.

A soccer ball was shot forward from his belt, before he kicked with all his strength, successfully managing to break it so that it would pass inches away from her face.

After everything that happened in those five minutes, the car finally landed on the pool, splashing water everywhere.

When all adults that were watching from the roof a few moments ago arrived, they were met with the sight of all five children, soaking wet, standing on top of the very expensive car, waving at them with big smiles on their faces.

"Ran-neechan, we're fine!" Conan reassured the girl.

Ran sighed in relief. And she wasn't the only one.

"Ah, right," said the kid, once he remembered about the detective still on the phone. "Thank you for your services."

It took a moment for Shinichi to reply. "... You're crazy."

"You've said that before," Conan shrugged.

"Unconditionally and irrevocably _insane_."

"Learned from the best."

Shinichi looked as if he was about to reprimand him, but ultimately settled with a tired snicker, sounding glad, yet drained. Conan could, sort of, understand why he could have felt that way.

"Say, Onii-chan."

"Huh?"

"When this is over... All of this... The Organization and everything... You have to promise me something."

To say that the highschool detective was confused, and equally curious, was more than an understatement.

"You, Mom and Dad definitely need to take me to Hawaii."

The way Shinichi burst out in laughter made his little brother crack a smile. Any other day, he would probably have felt overly annoyed, but this time around, he was overjoyed.

Because, things could have ended very differently today. They wouldn't have been able to share such a moment together, which he decided to enjoy for the time being.

"By the way, Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko turned to him, and Conan blinked. "Why are you wearing an earring?"

"You look so silly!" exclaimed Genta, while Ayumi giggled, clearly agreeing with him.

The bespectacled boy in question flinched at that and quickly took it off, embarrassment colouring his cheeks red as he fumbled with the gadget. Upon hearing their conversation, Conan heard his brother's laugh becoming even louder and, this time around, it _did _bother him.

Conan hung up without saying another word to the older detective.

Even Haibara giggled. "Pay closer attention," she said. "That's the Earring Cellphone the Professor made for him."

"But why would he make an earring for Conan-kun?" asked Ayumi, innocently.

"Who knows. Maybe there's a thing or two we don't know about Kudo-kun..."

"Hey, hey..."

The other three children kept on laughing, even as they began to get out of the pool, while Conan simply scowled, looking away just like a petulant child while Haibara, even more amused, giggled at the sight.

Hosui was taken away shortly after he woke up. He gave Conan a brief smile before he walked out, accompanied by the police.

None of them said anything, but Haibara, Conan and Agasa hoped the same thing. That the explosions and the murder of Hara would never be investigated. For the good of everyone who could be implicated.

Conan wondered if it was a bit too much to ask.

Haibara, meanwhile, smiled as she turned to their other friends. Genuinely, she thanked Mitsuhiko for saving her, and confronted Genta, teasingly, while asking if to him she was only rice.

Both of them were embarrassed, for different reasons.

"That's right, Ayumi," Genta turned to their other friend. "How did you count to 30 this time?"

"It was by chance," she replied, with a grin, before rushing to Conan. "Actually, it's because of Conan-kun."

Conan blinked in return, failing to know what he had done for her.

"When I'm next to Conan-kun, I get nervous so I can count with my heartbeat."

The boy stared cluelessly for a few moments, when she smiled and turned to Mitsuhiko and Genta, praising them for their courage back then. _That... That explains a lot, actually._

"Hey, what's this?" Agasa suddenly bumped him with his elbow. "You're quite the lady-killer already."

"W-What do you mean with that?" the Professor's smile grew even bigger when the shy little boy stuttered, clearly uncomfortable.

"If you break Ayumi-chan's heart," Haibara smirked. "I'll never forgive you."

"Hey, hey..."

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I honestly wanted Kogoro to keep the car, but I have written a few other chapters and ended up completely forgetting about it, so I don't think I will able to add it, sorry XD As for the movies, I suppose I will figure things out as I go. I intend to do another one, but I'm not completely sure I'll be able to since I also want to focus on the main storyline.


	56. Refusing The Offer

**File Fifty-Six: Refusing The Offer**

"So, do you understand, Conan-kun?" Conan could only drop his head, as Ran went on and on. "You're going _straight _home after school."

"Yes."

"No detours."

"Yes."

"No soccer, no cases, no mysteries, no secret trips to _any _bookstore..."

"Yes."

It was _too _early for this.

After basically skateboarding ─ _flying ─ _his way inside a burning, escapeless, 75 floor building, the news of his grounding hadn't been quite the surprise. He had been forced through yet another stern and deadly lecturing from Kogoro ─ aided by Ran's severe glare ─ the entire way home, and all dinner.

They had finished right when it was time to go to bed, not without being ordered to give _all _his prized books to Ran. That was probably what it hurt the most.

And there he was now, sitting in front of Ran and his breakfast as she repeated every single rule he was supposed to follow today, daring to extend it to _all _spring vacation if he disobeyed.

Yeah, he was determined _not _to let that happen.

"By the way," he managed to speak, once she had gone over everything for now. "Where did Kogoro-ojisan go? He wasn't in his bed when I woke up."

"He left early," Ran explained. "He said he had some stuff to do."

That caused Conan to blink, momentarily confused and curious about what in this world would cause Mouri Kogoro, of all people, to leave so early in the morning. Figuring out it wasn't his business, however, Conan shrugged and continued to eat. Ran did the same.

"So, did you talk with Shinichi?" the girl asked. "He was a bit worried last time we talked."

"More like 'hysterical'," his head shook from side to side, even if the tips of his lips were fighting to remain in place. "I assured him everything was fine, though. That should be enough for now."

"Not that I can blame him. What you did there was pretty reckless," Conan merely shrugged, doing his best to ignore the glare she was probably sending his way ─ but refusing to say anything in case this set off another fit of scolding from her part. "And I'm not only talking about the way you got back into the building, or how you got out of it."

Conan paused, looking up so his confused gaze could meet her stern one.

"Did you tell him?" her eyes narrowed. "About the way you rushed up to the front of that elevator, right after a sniper tried to shoot you?"

She didn't miss the slight widening of his eyes, or the flash of horror in them as he flinched violently. "What are you talking about, Ran-neechan?" Ran couldn't help but notice how much this child resembled his brother, forcing a smile like that. "There was no sniper. Probably a pebble just fell from somewhere and..."

That argument sounded weak, even in his ears.

"I saw it," she said, prompting him to shut up. "The laser point in the middle of your forehead, Conan-kun."

"... Are you sure you didn't just imagine it?"

"Conan-kun."

"Ah, look, it's so late!" Conan glanced at the clock, standing up, and rushing to get his backpack. "We have to hurry, Ran-neechan!"

He didn't get to, however.

It didn't matter how fast he had intended to leave that place, Ran was taller and, in two long steps, she had reached the door and rested a hand against it, blocking his only way back.

"I know what I saw, Conan-kun, as you do as well," Conan just stood there, refusing to look at her. "So, you better tell me what you are hiding or-"

"Or what?"

To say that she was surprised at the challenging tone this little boy used, which he had never done to her before, was an understatement. Far too shocked to say anything, she watched as he raised his head, a frown etched into his features as he simply stared back at her, unblinking.

"I'm sorry," the boy continued, in a quiet voice, almost pleading. "Can we please let this go?"

"You're not going to tell me anything," the girl frowned as well. _Just like that idiot detective._

Conan let out a long sigh, focusing his eyes on the floor, as if currently they were the most interesting thing in this entire world. "Aren't we the same?" he then asked. "You hid stuff from me too, Ran-neechan."

She blinked. "What...?"

"You never told me that I was supposed to be dead," shrugging, as if it didn't matter, he placed his hands inside his pockets. "That Kudo Conan is dead," but he didn't meet her in the eyes. "That he was killed in that kidnapping case... Or was it in a car accident? I don't know anymore."

For the longest time, none of them said anything. Conan could feel her intense gaze on him, even if he didn't even take a look at her, and could hear that she was holding her breath, in quiet shock.

Even so, he didn't bother saying anything.

"Conan-kun, I..." finally, Ran let out a long sigh, taking her hand away from the door. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

The girl kneeled down in front of him, and gently grasped his hands. He didn't react, even when he could feel that her hands were shaking, slightly.

"At that time, we talked it over with your parents," her grip tightened, and Conan wondered if she had noticed it herself. "They thought it would be better for you if we made you remember as little as possible about that incident."

Conan didn't speak, which only made Ran's heart clench, painfully.

"We thought... I thought..." another sigh. "I wanted to protect you."

"... I know," then, to her surprise, the boy looked back at her.

It genuinely surprised her when he did. In his eyes, she had expected to see _everything _─ from betrayal, to sadness, or even disappointment ─ but she saw none of that.

There was a bright, understanding look in his big blue eyes. And then, he let out a very sweet smile.

"That's why I said we were the same, Ran-neechan."

Baffled as she was, the girl didn't even notice she had released him until he rushed away to pick his stuff up. As if nothing had happened, the boy soon came back and told her that they really were running late, so they had to leave.

That conversation confirmed what she had suspected, the boy knew something about the case his brother was involved in and was determined not to say anything. And, if he was anything like Shinichi, he would _never _speak of it if he truly wanted to.

Ran frowned.

That didn't mean she was giving up there.

* * *

"Mouri-kun? What are you doing here?"

When the detective laughed, making his way inside his office as if he owned the place, Megure's expression shifted from shock to annoyance, partially hoping that this man didn't cause a murder to actually happen inside the Tokyo Police Department.

Now, on a second thought, it was the kid who attracted the corpses, so he guessed he would be safe.

"There's something I want to talk about with you, Inspector," promptly sitting in the chair in front of the inspector, the detective's face went oddly serious. "About the case from the other day."

"Ah, but it has been solved already. Conan-kun found the evidence and Kisaragi Hosui-san is now in prison. What else do you want?"

"I still can't understand why."

"Why? The Mount Fuji, of course."

"No, I don't mean the motive! Why was he declared the culprit for Hara-san's murder when he had a solid alibi?"

Inspector Megure frowned, not speaking for a second, while staring at Kogoro. "He admitted to the crime," he spoke, standing up and looking over the window. "We didn't have any evidence that he wasn't the criminal, so he was declared guilty. Kisaragi-san didn't argue."

"And are you leaving this just like that?" Kogoro exclaimed, clearly distressed. "Hara-san was clearly killed by somebody else."

Megure didn't speak, agitating the detective even more.

"Who was behind the explosions?" Kogoro continued while raising from his seat. "Ran, Conan and those children could've died! And you're telling me there isn't going to be an investigation?"

"That was a terrorist attack that-"

"They were targeting Conan."

Instantly after those words left his mouth, Megure spun around to face Mouri, realizing with a shudder that he was honest when he said that. There was such an intense look on his eyes that let him know that he wasn't lying.

"Ran told me the elevator stopped because of a bullet. Before then, there was a laser pointing at Conan's forehead, and he would have died if she hadn't pushed him away... A sniper was targeting an innocent _child, _Inspector_._"

"Do you... Do you think this case is related to...?"

A solemn nod from Kogoro's part caused the inspector to frown, turning to look over the window with a thoughtful expression. "I understand, Mouri-kun," finally, he said. "But you're helping me out."

"Of course," Kogoro replied without a doubt in his mind.

"But this must remain a secret between us two," he declared, turning to look at him, with a severe look. "If the wrong information got into the wrong hands..."

There was no telling what would happen.

* * *

"Yesterday was scary, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I really thought we would be gonners."

"Right! I'm so glad that's over."

_Tell that to your faces, _sighed Conan, watching their friends talk amongst each other about the close call they had the other day, with bright, happy grins all over their faces, as if they were talking about Kamen Yaiba or something of that sort.

But all of sudden, Ayumi stopped smiling, and turned to look at Haibara, who was simply walking in silence. There was a concerned look that neither the scientist or the detective missed.

"But is Ai-chan going to be okay?" the girl asked the other. "You said that they were trying to get you..."

"And there's also the fact that Conan-kun saw Gin's car the other day..." commented Mitsuhiko.

Haibara didn't reply, probably because she didn't have an answer to give them.

"It's alright," Conan spoke up instead. "The only reason Gin was around was because they were after Hara-san. True, he might have bombed the engine room because he knew she would be at the Twin Tower Buildings after hearing her voice message, but once she stopped calling, all clues disappeared."

The other three kids, who had been told about everything when they asked ─ like fifteen times in a single hour ─ could only nod, in understandment, before dropping the topic altogether.

"Gin must have seen it," Haibara wasn't able to drop it, evidently, as she slowed down her pace so she could match and they could walk together, behind their group. "That Ford Mustang convertible that went from one building to the other."

"Yeah, he definitely saw it."

"You don't sound too preoccupied about it."

"Why should I? You said it after the incident at Haido City Hotel. That he can read each and every move you make. Or at least, the _old _you."

"What's your point?"

"Would cold, collected, and logical Sherry give up her chance to escape by elevator in place of a woman with a baby?" Haibara actually blinked at that. "Word got around that you guys got stuck because of that. Gin must have believed that you either were one of those kids that walked out the elevator, or that you slipped into the crowd with the men and left through the Sky Bridge."

"I have become more stupid, that's what you're saying."

"No, I meant _humane,_" he shrugged, with a small smile. "Believe me, I know. It's downright impossible not to soften up a bit when you're around with those guys for so many hours a day."

The girl honestly had no idea what to say about that, but still turned to gaze at the three children in question, chatting amicably under an umbrella that protected them from the rain pouring over their heads.

"In other words, there's nothing to worry about. Gin might be able to predict Sherry's movements, but it isn't like that with Haibara Ai. So as long as you maintain that identity..."

Crossing his arms behind his head, Conan grinned once more at her, before his eyes fixed back into the road. Haibara, in turn, gave him a long stare, before her eyes went to her feet.

The laughter of her friends filled her ears but far from being recomforting, it was painful instead. Incredibly painful. That was because, deep down, she knew this would be the last time she would hear it.

Everything she had, unknowingly, put everyone through, had prompted Haibara to decide on an answer. An answer that she would give Jodie later that day.

_So a new life, huh?_

_Sherry, Miyano Shiho, Hirota Hana and Haibara Ai... I wonder what new identity I will be forced to get this time around._

None of the other children seemed to be aware of the turmoil she was going through, but she figured it would be better that way. With a smile, she continued walking in silence.

Her head turned and she stared at the reflexion in the glass of a random store. Her smile soon faded into a weird grimace.

A young, lost girl was staring back at her.

_... It makes you wonder who, out all those people I have been, is the true 'me'._

"Well," all of sudden, Ayumi paused and turned to her friends. "My house is this way. Until tomorrow, see you in school!"

In turn, the rest waved at her until she disappeared around the corner. Conan contemplated the direction his friend had left for a beat, until he took notice of something.

That melancholic look that haunted Haibara's gaze while she looked at Ayumi's back.

"Haibara-san," there was a frown pinching his features. "You aren't... thinking about something stupid again, are you?"

"Rest assured, Kudo-kun. I'm definitely not thinking about you."

"Idiot, I'm-"

A loud scream didn't let him finish his sentence causing him, and everyone else, to run towards the source, upon recognizing Ayumi's voice. In no time they spotted her, sitting on the wet floor and staring intently at her hand.

* * *

"I see. Then you don't remember what that person looked like?"

It wasn't unusual for Conan to end up in the Tokyo Police Department one day after school, but he was glad that nobody had died today. Someone had stabbed a woman in the arm before running off, bumping into Ayumi on his way out. The victim had called him 'the phantom killer'.

He had been wearing a raincoat and a hat, so nobody had been able to recognize him.

Not even Ayumi, but she had heard him yell, so she knew it was a man. That was something, Conan guessed.

Deciding that she would remember something else if they went to the scene of the crime, Sato left with the children in tow. Conan did the same, without any complaint.

But as they passed by Megure's office, Conan saw something that actually caused him to pause and blink.

From a window, the boy could see inside. Kogoro was there, discussing something with the inspector. He looked angry, for some reason, and it made the child wonder.

"Conan!" Genta's voice called before he could try to eavesdrop. "We'll leave you behind!"

With a sigh, and a last glance to the office's direction, Conan followed the group, figuring he could look into this later. The seemingly unimportant fact slipped from Conan's mind as soon as they arrived back into the crime scene.

Between the crowd of people that had formed around them, the children told Sato about what had transcurred. Ayumi had bumped into the man, and he seemed as if he was about to run off, but returned, scaring the girl badly. The girl had heard a '_clink' _sound before he left, and when she had glanced at her hand, there was a strange symbol.

She agreed to draw it. It was similar to a '5' or a 'S'.

_That symbol, _Conan frowned. _Where did I see it?_

"O-Over there!" suddenly, and for the second time today, Ayumi screamed, pointing somewhere in the crowd.

Of course, it didn't take a second for Conan to run off, Mitsuhiko following suit, and Genta trailing behind, clumsily bumping into some objects that were in his way. Eventually, the children managed to get through the forest of legs and onlookers.

The bespectacled boy was the first one to spot someone standing there, wearing the same raincoat that Ayumi had described. "There he is!" he exclaimed, reading his wristwatch.

He didn't get to, because Genta rushed forward.

"Wait!" Sato tried to stop them. "That person is-!"

Too late. The boy had already tackled that person into the ground, who groaned in pain upon the forced landing he had gone through. "... Takagi-kun," the woman completed with a sigh.

Conan and Mitsuhiko grimaced upon seeing that, indeed, the person there was no other than Takagi.

"That was mean..." complained Takagi, once rising from the ground.

Sighing tiredly, Conan's head shook from side to side. "That's what you get from jumping into the wrong conclusions, Genta," he crossed his arms.

Mitsuhiko blinked at his friend. _He was going to shoot him a dart just a few seconds ago._

"... I don't want to hear that from you," Genta huffed, turning around with a very offended look.

Just as he did that, both boys gasped, causing him to wonder what it was. "Don't move," Conan was quick to stop him. "This is... unbelievable."

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"The clue to solve this case... is in your butt, Genta."

"... What?"

* * *

Soon they found out that Genta had been sitting on the bonnet of Detective Sato's car earlier, thus leaving its logo imprinted on his pants. Since the symbol had been smaller on Ayumi's hand, and because of a blood imprint on her cuff, which had left a sawtooth pattern on it, they figured out that the object the culprit had dropped was his car's master key.

A quick search through the city, for cars with the same model and owners that had lost their key ─ because it was evident that the criminal would do anything in his power to not have his key examined, since it had been covered with blood ─ left them with three main suspects.

Instantly, Ayumi had offered herself to go and tell the phantom killer apart, since she had heard him yell before.

Haibara had been just as fast to disagree, claiming that it would be dangerous. If the culprit was let off because of lack of evidence, Ayumi's life could be in danger.

So, Conan had suggested taking the middle road.

That was why they were there, currently inside a car with smoked windows, watching the three suspects being interrogated.

The first thing that caught Conan's attention was the middle one, Fukuchi Naokazu, that had been parked _very _close to the other car. That person then claimed to be a terrible driver.

_He repaired his car himself then went to test it... in the middle of the city?_

He guessed they wouldn't need Ayumi's help after all, but he couldn't be sure.

"Hey, did you notice something?" Takagi discreetly leaned over the car, whispering to the children.

"Nothing at all," admitted Ayumi. "And none of them yelled either..."

One of the suspects called Takagi, asking him what he was doing, sneaking around. He could only shrug, pretending it was nothing.

"Hey, Detective Takagi," but Conan whispered before he could leave. "I have a favor to ask..." he trailed off, realizing that Mitsuhiko and Genta were strangely close to him, curious eyes staring at him.

Far from being distracted over what the guys were doing, Ayumi got even closer to the smoked glass, frowning slightly. "As I thought, I should go over to take a look," she muttered to herself. Haibara's head turned to her almost instantly. "If I'm right beside them, I may be able to recognize the culprit."

"Don't," her tone didn't leave room for disagreement. "Didn't I already say? If the culprit isn't convicted there's the possibility that it could become dangerous."

"But..."

"It's not only you. Everyone connected to you may fall victim to the culprit's vengeance."

Haibara closed her eyes. It took every ounce of her not to shudder at that woman's cold smile that flashed behind her eyelids, pointing a gun at her. Wordlessly promising a painful death to every single person she knew and loved.

"It requires courage to hide oneself," she then added, with a softer voice.

Even if Shinichi would believe that woman's words, even if Conan would blindly trust his brother's judgement, Haibara couldn't risk it.

_This is the correct choice. For your own sake... And for everyone else, too._

Too focused on whatever Conan was asking Takagi to do, nobody noticed the way Ayumi faced her friend, determination burning behind her irises and told her something. Something that left her speechless.

"Ask the forensics team to bring a flathead screwdriver?" Takagi blinked.

"Exactly. Just trust me, okay?"

Honestly speaking, the adult had absolutely no idea of why he was listening to an eight year-old in the first place, but he did.

Meanwhile, the investigation continued. The forensics team came and did a Luminol reaction test in each of the keyholes belonging to every car.

The children watched as they worked. For some reason none of the children couldn't understand, a big, mischievous grin took hold of Conan's face when the car beside Fukuchi's had to be moved so they could make the test on his keyhole.

It remained in place, even when the forensic officer declared there was no reaction.

Takagi was confused and equally surprised, but that feeling became overwhelming when he spotted Conan right beside the door. Giving it a quick glance, he promptly opened it, gathering everyone's attention at the instant.

Wordlessly, he began to hit the cover with a screwdriver, which he had probably borrowed from the forensics team, until he took it off.

"Hey, little boy!" understandably so, Fukuchi wasn't happy with that, so he plucked the child off the ground. He didn't let go, however. "Hey-!"

The lock cylinder was severed. Everyone gasped.

And Fukuchi could do nothing but to watch, with a white face, as they all realized that the key cylinder was lined with vinyl tape.

_Could it be...? _cold sweat rolled down Takagi's face, turning around to watch the little kid, who simply stood there as Sato inspected the keyhole, with such an innocent look that actually made him more suspicious. _Conan-kun predicted this at the start..._

It wasn't long until the culprit was cornered. Seeing no way out, while pretending to look for the key number, he jumped inside his car and locked the door.

Grinning to himself, Fukuchi was about to start the car.

When he noticed something on his feet. A pair of blue eyes were staring at him.

"Hi," the plain, childish voice said.

Before something knocked him out.

A loud noise caused everyone to cover their ears and Conan to sigh, annoyed, at the sight of the criminal that had fallen face first on top of the driving wheel and, therefore, his car's horn.

Roughly, Conan pushed him out of the way. His ears were grateful for that.

_Pathetic, _he could only think, as he stepped out of the car.

Takagi's eyes did not leave him for a long, _long _time.

* * *

"But thank goodness!" Genta exclaimed. The sun was setting down, so the children were on their way back home, this time for real. "The culprit was captured!"

"Now Ayumi-chan doesn't have to worry about being targeted," Mitsuhiko added.

Ayumi paused. "It'd be okay, even if I was targeted."

"Eh? Why?"

Honestly, Conan didn't know why he was still getting surprised everytime Ayumi would cling into him, just like this time around. "Because Conan-kun would protect me," she grinned, brightly.

"Hey, hey..." he wasn't surprised, however, when another two set of glares settled into his being. _There are things that are not bound to change... Aren't they?_

"Of course," Ayumi turned to face the rest of her friends. "I can depend on Mitsuhiko-kun, Genta-kun and Ai-chan, too."

The two boys in question looked at each other, shocked, before awkwardly nodding and starting to walk once more, this time in silence. _Of course, that isn't going to change anytime soon, _Conan mentally sighed. _Ayumi-chan's ability to tame these two with a simple smile..._

Shaking his head, the boy couldn't help but let out a soft smile. _But I guess I'm okay with it._

_To live just like this, with everyone. It doesn't sound so bad, does it?_

"Sorry," Haibara's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

The entire group spun around to see Ai, standing there with her eyes fixed on the floor, shadowed by her bangs, thus rendering them unable to understand what was going through her mind.

"I need to attend something," she turned slightly the other way.

_... Haibara-san?_

Her head rose and they saw it, her sweet smile. "Bye-bye," she said to them.

Then finally left, running the way opposite them, not giving them another look even when Ayumi, cheerfully, waved goodbye, and the others joined her. The three of them then turned around, continuing their way.

But Conan didn't react, rendered unable to focus on anything but Haibara's back, which grew smaller and smaller the further away she got.

"Conan-kun?" the boy jumped a bit upon the realization that all gazes were on him. "Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing," he pulled a hopefully reassuring smile. "I just forgot that I had something to do as well."

"Eh? You too?" Mitsuhiko blinked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "See you all tomorrow!"

Without any further word, the three friends had no other option but to see their friend starting to run as well, more or less like Haibara had not long ago. Conan paid no mind to that, willing his body to run faster as soon as he turned around the corner.

"_Bye-bye," _despite the smile she had flashed them, there was something that didn't sit well with him.

He didn't know what it was, he didn't know if he had just imagined or if he was being just a tad too paranoiac, but he didn't care either. Conan was not risking it.

Because he had seen plain _fear _behind those eyes earlier that day. And that same fear had prompted Haibara to do many, _many _stupid things in the past.

His hand went to his glasses and he instantly found it. That blinking dot that moved across a map, belonging to Haibara's badge.

_Is she heading to the hospital? _Conan was more than confused at that. _Why?_

Despite it all, the boy still bursted inside the building, earning a few quizzical looks, which he ignored, head snapping from side to side. _She must be here, _it shouldn't be hard to spot a strawberry blonde little girl in the middle of Japan, right?

And he found her, rushing upstairs. He followed instantly, making sure to keep his distance, so not to be spotted.

When he saw Haibara going inside a room, _Jodie's room, _Conan felt his body freezing in his spot. His wide eyes did not leave the door she had disappeared from, as the implications slowly, but surely dawned on him.

"If I give it any more time," he could hear Haibara's voice as he got closer to the door. "I might change my mind again."

"Then," Jodie was, of course, there as well. "You've already decided whether you want to accept the Witness Protection Program offer?"

Frowning a bit, Conan slid his hands inside his pockets, turning so his ear would be as close as possible to the closed door. _So that was going through her mind, _he realized, even though it should have been obvious. Haibara had been, after all, directly threatened by Vermouth.

There was no doubt that Jodie, who had seen the woman pointing a gun at the little girl, would propose something like that to her.

He wondered how he didn't see that coming.

"Yes, of course."

And there it was, the solution to all her problems. The end to all that constant fear for her life, and the end... to all this. Haibara would become someone else, and live a comfortable life somewhere else. Far, far away from this cursed place.

_... I'm glad for you, Haibara-san._

He was glad. He _should _be glad for her, right?

_Then... Why?_

Why was that he couldn't find the strength to genuinely _smile?_

"Of course... I refuse."

It seemed like Conan wasn't the only one to be stunned at her unexpected answer, because Jodie had fallen quiet. Blinking twice, the little boy fully faced the door, shock written all over his face as she continued.

"Indeed, it may be safer to become someone else by changing my name and address, but... In the end, it will all repeat again," Haibara's voice could barely be heard from the hallway he was standing at. "To stay in hiding and to live in fear... If my identity seems exposed, I have to become someone else yet again. There's no end in sight... And... and..."

Haibara closed her eyes, picturing Ayumi's determined frown.

"_I don't want to run away!" _she had said. "_If I keep on running away, I can't win! Definitely not!"_

"... I-It's because I don't want to run away."

Without even realizing it, Conan's ear was already pressing against the wooden door, eyes opening in full capacity as he tried to hear something more.

"Oh," Jodie finally answered. "As I expected."

"You're not going to object?"

"Yeah, as an FBI agent, I'm entirely against it, of course," from the sound of her voice, Conan could tell she was smiling. "But as a girl who once was on the run for her life, I hope you can treasure those feelings right now. Do your best."

_Does that mean... that she...?_

Before Conan could even think of moving, he felt gravity doing his thing and pulling him inside the room, upon the door opening. As he stumbled forward a bit, the boy yelped, before recovering his footing.

"Cool Kid?" the agent's clueless voice rang in his ears, causing his gaze to snap towards her, and to pale. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah," he let out a nervous laugh. "I heard that Jodie-sensei was about to leave for America soon soI wanted to..."

He trailed off into silence when he caught sight of the plain look the scientist was burning into his soul, causing all possible excuses he could think of to die down in his throat. A sheepish smile was pulled out in its place.

Closing her eyes and sighing, sounding terribly resigned as she did that, Haibara simply passed by him and began to walk away.

Conan stood there, shifting in his place uncomfortably, not having a clue of what to do. Then, he gave a jerky nod towards the FBI agent. "Wait, Haibara-san!" he took off running after her.

He didn't notice the way Jodie giggled as soon as he disappeared from her sight.

"What is it?" she rolled her eyes once he caught up with her. "Didn't you say you were there to visit that woman?"

The look she gave him was more than enough for him to understand that his lie hadn't been bought. Not that it surprised him.

If she noticed, however, that his face had warmed up a tiny bit, she gave no indication of it.

"Is it true?" she did hear him ask, quietly. "That you decided to stay."

Just as they were about to reach the stairs, Haibara suddenly stopped walking. Conan turned his head to face her, only to realize she wasn't doing the same.

"You heard me, didn't you? I'm tired of running away," her gaze was fixed on the window right beside her. "That's all I have been doing, all my life."

"I take it you have been doing it, even before you became Haibara Ai."

Haibara didn't speak for a beat, then shrugged. "My sister told me before, that she didn't wish this life for me," she passed by him, slowly starting to descend down the stairs. "But she didn't have any choice."

Conan kept silent, simply walking beside her and listening.

"In order to protect me, she taught me to never let anyone know about my true identity," she continued. "She did the best she could to raise me, as she was seventeen when I was born... I never met my parents. They died in an... accident a few days after that."

_An accident? _Conan frowned. When it came to the Organization, the boy couldn't help but to try and doubt about the truth of those facts. _... Was it, really?_

"How did you end up in Japan?" the boy wasn't able to help himself.

"My sister ran away with me," Haibara let out a humorless laugh. "Even then, she had always been so reckless..."

"And they didn't find you?"

"As impressive as that was, she managed to get away from them for five years," she stated, with a genuine smile. "We had to move around a lot, but... But it was nice. We had each other."

At that point, they had reached the first floor and were slowly walking back to the entrance, Haibara's smile fading into nothing, undoubtedly thinking about what had happened before.

Conan didn't need her to tell him, as he could more or less tell. They found her in Japan, where she had been posing as Hirota Hana and they must have started grooming her so she could take over that project. Apotoxin 4869.

Akemi must have lived because of Sherry, it wasn't hard to imagine them threatening Haibara to kill her beloved sister if she didn't cooperate.

_Why did they kill her three years after, though? _

_What reason would be more important than the project that Sherry was in charge of?_

"What are you thinking about now, detective?" her voice rang through his ears. "None of what happened in the past is important anymore."

"Why would you tell me all that, though?" Haibara seemed to be genuinely surprised at that question. "You always seem... unwilling to talk about this."

Shrugging slightly, Haibara pushed the glass door open, finally exiting that hospital. "You're a good person," she finally said, and this time it was Conan's turn to be surprised. "I guess you have showed me I can trust you with this."

"Haibara-san..."

"And, even if I didn't tell you, you would poke your nose where it doesn't belong and would find out anyway."

"Hey, hey."

She paid no mind, and kept on walking. The boy following close behind, an offended frown etching his features as he glared at her back. She ignored it.

But then, he sighed, letting his shoulders drop.

"You're wrong. I don't think I'm a good person."

He received a questioning look in return.

"Because I'm glad," his mouth stretched into a broad, and very bright smile. "I'm glad you said 'no', Haibara-san."

Haibara had no answer to grace him with, but he paid no mind, and continued walking. That was when his eyes fell somewhere and froze on his spot.

"Seriously guys!" he then shouted, stomping towards a random bush. "That's a terrible place to hide."

To her surprise, from behind the plant, the three children she knew more than the palm of her hand stepped out, matching dejected expressions pinched on their face. She barely heard Conan scolding them from following them around, or Genta calling out on him because he had done exactly the same.

Slowly, she began to walk towards them.

_Yes, this is the place I truly belong to._

And a happy smile crossed her face.

_The only place where I can truly be... 'me'._

As soon as she reached them, however, she noticed Conan suddenly freezing in place and, ever so slowly, reaching for the phone in his pocket. He paled, upon noticing it was _still_ on mute from class that morning.

"I completely forgot..."

"Huh?" the three children blinked, confused at the horror in his features.

"... I was supposed to be grounded."

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: I will think about it ;)

Guest: Well, I was a bit disappointed, of course, since I _really _wanted to see it. But, in a way, I was kind of relieved they did. If they let all that amount of people conglomerate in cinemas and the virus to spread even further, it would be a chaos, really.

abc: I don't think I can guarantee to finish it before this year ends, since there's still a lot of stuff I haven't covered yet. Even so, I'm confident that this story will, eventually, reach a proper ending.


	57. The Ghost of Teitan High School

**File Fifty-Seven: The Ghost of Teitan High School**

"What? Ghosts are haunting your school?"

"... How old are you, Ran-neechan?"

"Rude! I'm telling the truth!" Ran insisted. "Recently our school has been bothered by ghosts... It's pretty creepy."

Conan's expression did not change. Instead, his blank stare did not leave her, even as he ate his breakfast, while she explained to them that, two years ago, a student had died in an accident and that the school was cursed by his spirit. Supposedly.

"That's stupid," he didn't miss the way the girl glared at him. "I don't get why people are so scared about stuff that does not exist in the first place."

"Can you prove it?"

"Huh?" Conan blinked.

"Can you prove that my school is not haunted, Conan-kun?"

Conan scoffed a bit. "I don't need to prove it," he raised his cup, sipping into the liquid. "Besides, I'm supposed to be grounded, remember?"

He wouldn't forget _ever _again, not after the loud, stern lecture he had faced the other time. _I thought I was going to die, _he cringed at the memory of Ran's angry voice and fiery gaze, and felt _very _lucky that the girl wouldn't use her karate against a little kid ─ not that she needed it to be absolutely terrifying. _If it was my brother instead of me, this story would have ended much differently..._

"Of course I do, but I'm giving you permission," continued the girl, with a smile so bright that was almost scary. "Besides, it's just for one day. You're going to spend your entire spring break _here _anyway, aren't you?"

Conan groaned at that, earning a giggle from Ran's side.

"Alright then, I guess I could go check it out," then, a teasing smirk adorned his features. "If that makes you more comfortable next week, roaming in the school as the hall monitor... _alone_."

"Conan-kun!"

Kogoro looked at the two kids for a few moments, blinking twice, before shrugging and continuing to eat.

* * *

Of course, upon seeing Conan running towards them after school, Sonoko wasn't pleased. "Wait, Ran," and she _did _let it show. "This brat's the one who is going to help us investigate?"

"Well, my dad wouldn't come... And Conan-kun was so adamant that ghosts do not exist that..."

Conan barely resisted the urge to scowl at Sonoko when she leaned closer to him, her eyebrow raising as he studied him. _Did she really forget who has been 'helping' her out all this time?_

"Alright I, the Deduction Queen, barely accepts him as my helper."

"I'm flattered, Sonoko-sama," he stated, with a plain voice, before passing by her and heading inside the building.

Conan's curious eyes travelled around, as he realized he had never been there before ─ he had only been in Teitan High School at the festival, and that had been in the school's gym. Ran simply smiled at him, walking to her locker as soon as the child started to take his shoes off.

"They're slightly larger than your school's, right, Conan-kun?"

He nodded, just as Ran bent down to pick them up for him before setting them in her own locker. _Onii-chan went to school here for a year, huh? _he thought, absently putting on the slippers the girl had gotten for him. _Before..._

"Hey, Ran, who is this kid?" a girl's voice pulled him out of it.

"Is this the Conan-kun you always speak of?"

"Yeah!" Ran nodded. "Isn't he cute?"

_... Cute?_

His survival instincts kicked up fast as soon as the two girls got closer to him, causing the kid to flinch and take a step back.

They didn't seem to take the hint however, and one of them went and patted him in the head.

_I might be young, but that doesn't make me a dog._

"He's just like a mini Kudo-kun! He has the same expressions as him."

He figured he hadn't done a good job trying to hide the annoyance he was currently feeling, but Conan found himself unable to care.

"Boy, don't be a stupid detective when you grown up, okay?"

"... Says who?" he couldn't help but groan.

The hand on his head stilled, and the two girls actually blinked at each other, wide-eyed and utterly perplexed.

"That kid _is _Kudo-kun."

"No kidding. Think he shrunk or something?"

_... Just stop, please, _the kid huffed, having already lived through that, and having no wishes to relive it.

Ran seemed to be thinking about the same thing, judging by the awkward laugh he gave them. "Don't joke about that," she replied. "Didn't I already tell you? He's just his relative."

"Are you sure he isn't just his clone?"

Conan didn't find the will to answer that question.

"But why did you bring him?"

"This brat with the glasses is helping us investigate," Sonoko spoke up. "He sometimes comes in handy!"

_... I'd say every single time, but I'll let it slide... I guess._

"Investigate?" then, two male students came from behind. "The ghosts?"

"Really? I've come to haunt you~!"

"Stop scaring us like that!"

While the group of teenagers laughed, teased and joked with each other, Conan's wide eyes could not stop staring. He could almost imagine Shinichi there, with them.

Acting like the high school student he was supposed to be.

_Yes, _with that thought in mind, Sonoko and Ran bid their classmates goodbye and the three of them began their search. _Onii-chan was supposed to go school here. Learn here. Talk with his friends here... He was supposed to live a normal high school life._

His gaze fell on the window, frowning slightly as he stared at the sky.

_I wonder what you're doing right now, Onii-chan._

_I wonder if you're living your life to the fullest... Despite everything._

Conan's eyes focused back to the end of the hallway, that frown not leaving his face.

_To have our ordinary life back... To be free to live without fear... I almost had that chance._

_That woman, disguised as Araide-sensei... That woman named Vermouth._

There were still a few things related to that enigmatic woman that Conan felt that they were not solved yet. Like how she was unwilling to kill him off when she had the perfect chance, or why she had actually let Sherry, their traitor, go just like that.

It would have been easier if she had killed him there, then gone to Haibara to finish the job.

Then, there was something else... Something that had bothered him for a while now...

_Onii-chan... Why would he let me go near that woman? A member of the Organization that's ranked high enough to have a codename._

_... Did he know that, in some way, that Vermouth wouldn't do me any harm?_

Conan let out a tired sigh, while still trailing behind the two girls. If he kept thinking and thinking, his mind would explode, he decided.

_Nevertheless, I should be careful. _

_That woman is a devil of many faces. Her disguising techniques are as good as Kaito KID's._

_She could be around me right now, planning some scheme, without me... _his gaze rose to meet a familiar face that caused his face to go white. _... knowing._

For less than a second, Conan didn't find himself able to move a muscle, wide, startled eyes fixed on the man that stood in front of them. "Araide-sensei!" Sonoko greeted him, as beads of cold sweat rolled down the kid's face.

"But I had heard that after the trial, you'd be sent to the Aou Hospital to work there!" Ran pointed out, stunned.

"Yes, that was the original plan," Araide explained. "But it has changed."

Araide walked past the girls and stopped right in front of Conan, who was still frozen in place.

"I'm still worried about my patients," he stated, kneeling down in front of the boy, smiling gently at him, before turning back to the two teenagers. "And leaving you guys will also be hard."

"So you're going to be our school doctor again?"

"Yeah," he replied, unaware of the little hand that slowly raised. "I came today to tell the school that- Ow!"

Apart from Araide, who simply whimpered at the painful treatment he was receiving, everyone was shocked, stunned. Sonoko and Ran were speechless at the sight of the boy pinching the doctor's cheek for no rhyme or reason, and Conan was... dumbfounded.

There was no mask, no disguise. _H-He is the real deal..._

After she snapped out of it, Ran rushed to pull the child off him, lightly scolding him for acting like that before apologizing to the doctor, who brushed it off right away.

"I was told by FBI member Jodie," he still whispered, and Conan could do nothing but to flick his wide eyes to him. "That a criminal disguised as me and planned to commit a crime."

As he had been told before, Araide was sent to America to hide, but Hikaru and his grandmother hadn't been comfortable there, so they returned as soon as the criminal had been found.

Apparently, Jodie had wanted Araide to tell Conan, and Conan alone. Whatever the reason.

Sonoko's eyebrow rose, inching closer so she could hear what they were whispering about so much. And Ran... Ran simply stared at them, wordlessly, her ever-present frown still in place.

Her expression changed dramatically when she smiled, offering the young doctor to come around to investigate the hauntings.

Conan let out a dry chuckle. This was looking awfully like those times where he would discuss the existence of ghosts to Ayumi and Genta, who were clearly younger than her.

At least, this time there wouldn't be a middle-aged, deranged woman locking up her son in her basement... Would it?

* * *

"We'll start here..." Sonoko's deep, dramatic voice, actually caused Conan to sigh. "The Weeping Gym Storage Room."

The boy barely held back a snort, managing to keep quiet as Sonoko told them about the student that came there one rainy morning, and heard some noises coming from that room, which had been supposed to be empty. Peeking inside, she had noticed someone standing there, crying.

The student had ran away and when she returned with her friends, the weeping had stopped.

"And then!" she rushed towards something that stood in the middle of the room and pulled out the cloth that rested on top of it. "All that was left was this desk! The desk of the one who died mysteriously two years ago! The desk of the student named Hosaka Hideaki!"

Araide blinked while Ran whimpered, terrified.

And Conan could not stop wondering _why _he was there.

"... You know, we couldn't see the desk clearly before you pulled out the cloth. This room is not properly lit for that," Conan's plain voice stated. "How can you be so sure that, instead of magically appearing, the desk wasn't there in the first place?"

Sonoko flinched, before shrugging it off with a scoff, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "But the whimpering-"

"The chances of someone, a _living _being, standing there and crying are higher," he continued, unblinking, as he walked closer to the desk. "Didn't you say that this desk belonged to a student that had died?"

"Died _mysteriously!_"

"... How is that any different?"

Standing on the tip of his feet, Conan took a closer look, and blinked at the sight of a signature. _Did that student... actually sign his desk?_

"Conan-kun, get away from there!" Ran shouted, face pale. "You'll get cursed!"

He simply gave her a blank look. _How is that supposed to work?_

"It wasn't a mystery, and there's no curse," a female voice said, causing everyone to look behind, just to see another student there. "Hosaka-kun just died by missing a step and falling down the stairs, hitting a fatal spot on his body."

To say that Conan was glad that somebody in this entire school was finally making sense was more than an understanding. That student in question, according to Ran, was Tsukamoto Kazumi, her senpai. They both were part of the karate team, so of course they knew each other very well.

Apparently, she had half a mind not to believe the ghost stories, and pointed out that, most likely, people had mistaken the sounds of wind entering through a broken window with weeping sounds.

Kazumi then told them that Hosaka had been his classmate, and it made sense to Conan that she did not like the rumor of his ghost roaming around the school.

* * *

"Ah, Mouri-kun, I was waiting for you."

Without nothing but a nod, Mouri Kogoro closed the door behind him, letting himself inside that abandoned apartment, where its owner, Hara Yoshiaki, had been murdered a few days prior his visit.

The scent of death still lingered, and the blood hadn't been cleaned yet ─ Mouri's nose scrunched. Then, he would remember that it was a group of elementary school kids who found the body, and couldn't help but shudder.

"Have you found anything yet?" Mouri asked, walking closer to what had been the scene of crime.

Megure simply shook his head. "Nothing that hadn't been found the first time this murder had been investigated," he pulled out some photographs and sighed, taking a closer look of them. "This case has been closed, too... Are you sure that-?"

"Wait a moment."

"Huh?"

Blinking, cluelessly, Megure turned to see that Kogoro was studying the photos in his hands with a focused frown in his face, before snatching them away from him. "Mouri-kun...?"

"This was found right there, right?" he said, referring to the photo of the broken sake cup while pointing at the dry pool of blood. Megure nodded, confused. "But this is strange."

"What?"

"The cup has no blood on it!" Megure's eyes went wide at the realization that the detective was right. "That confirms that Kisaragi-san didn't kill Hara-san, simply found him dead and used it as an alibi."

Instantly, Megure's expression went serious, while Kogoro gave him back the photos and began to wander around the room, eyes scanning every corner, looking for any clues.

_Is this... really Mouri-kun? _the inspector, however, was surprised at the unusual sight of Mouri focused, and actually trying to think, and not jumping into stupid, nonsensical conclusions he would often come up with.

After realizing who his family was, Megure had really thought it had been Conan the one solving all those cases, all along. Had he been wrong all along?

Kogoro looked behind a random, old vacuum cleaner and let out a genuinely frustrated sigh, before going to check behind the TV.

_No, that's not it. It's because a child is involved, _his expression hardened. _Conan-kun is involved._

"Inspector," suddenly Mouri turned to him. "Come here and help me search."

"A-Ah, right."

Before he could take a step, however, the inspector froze in place, startled by a loud sound that suddenly filled their ears. Looking back at Mouri, he could tell that he was as alarmed as he was.

That sound, after all, belonged to a phone. A _mobile _phone, considering the other one was right there and hadn't ringed.

Soon, the two men rushed into action, looking for the phone, yet being rendered unable to find it. Luckily, whoever the caller was, didn't stop and kept calling and calling, giving them more chances to find the cursed phone.

At some point, Kogoro came into an abrupt halt, spinning towards the vacuum cleaner. Not wasting a second, the detective removed the bag and stuck his hand inside ─ it was surprisingly clean.

When he took it out, his eyes opened widely at the sight of a phone, blaring loudly. There was a name on the screen, definitely belonging to whoever was calling:

"_Singani"_

Immediately he picked up and opened his mouth to speak.

Something else, however, stopped him.

"Hara-san, are you okay?" the caller had been faster, letting out that question before Kogoro could do anything about it. "Hara-san? Are you there? Hara-san!"

But Kogoro's throat had gone dry, upon hearing that unmistakable voice.

Megure looked at the detective, confused, as he clenched the phone a bit tighter. "S-Shinichi?!" finally, the words came out, and Megure gasped.

The inspector hadn't been the only one to be stunned. The person on the other side of the phone had gone silent with shock, struggling to come up with any word. "D-Detective Mouri... What are you...?"

There was some shuffling, though, and the voice died down. Then, there was a laugh, which prompted Kogoro to gasp, completely surprised.

Because, just now, he had heard _his own _laugh. "That's what you thought I would say, right, Detective Mouri Kogoro?" his own voice said to him. "As you can see, I can imitate whoever I want."

"Stop playing games," Kogoro was a bit more angry now. "Who are you?"

"It said so in the caller ID, didn't it?" there was a chuckle. "I expected so much more from a detective of your caliber. Honestly, I feel pretty disappointed."

"You bastard..."

"Oh, am I bothering you? Sorry, got the wrong number anyway. Bye~!"

"Wait-!"

Without so much of an answer, the line went dead and Kogoro cursed, loudly so, and almost threw the phone against the wall. Fortunately, Inspector Megure caught it before the evidence could be destroyed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the phone, the teenager let out a long sigh. "Here," he threw the phone to the boy's chest, who barely caught it. "You owe me one, Meitantei... Or is it twenty now? I lost count."

Shinichi, on the other hand, didn't reply, just stared back at his phone. The ghost of the panic that had coursed through his body had yet to leave. "That was close..." his shoulders dropped, before leaning back against the couch, expression going stiff the next moment. "Hara-san must have died."

"Hey, you're not blaming yourself for this, are you?" the other boy commented, plopping down on the couch beside him, reaching for his computer so he could continue whatever he had been doing until now. "That guy got involved on his own. He knew what he was getting into."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Shinichi frowned. It didn't make it better to think about it, though. "But that must mean that _they _realized _that _already."

"It was about time. Just be glad you're already dead, because they would be desperately looking for you now."

"I'm not dead, you know."

The teenager shrugged, starting to type. "Since you're not dead, you could actually _help _me," he stressed. "Make yourself useful and assist me, you lazy freeloader."

Shinichi didn't understand at first, until he took a glance at the computer screen and his confused look dulled. "We both know that one is not _it,_" he pointed out, with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not interested in aiding you in bringing even _more _attention just for fun."

"It's incredible how hypocritical you can be sometimes."

"Eh?"

"You definitely loved attention before, didn't you?"

The high school detective didn't even bother to dignify that question with an answer.

* * *

"There's wax."

"Huh?"

"Wax. You know. That thing candles-"

"I _know _what wax is, brat."

"Oh. That's impressive, Sonoko-neechan."

Paying no attention to Sonoko, who was grumbling under her breath, both Ran and Araide looked at the kid, blinking as he examined the wax in his finger. He had been awfully quiet for a while now, ever since that desk had appeared in the middle of the school yard with a completely dry note that read '_my hatred has not dissolved yet_'.

The most disturbing thing was that no footprints had been left, even if the desk had been set in the middle of the mud.

"Say," Conan then turned to them. "What do you think would happen if you put a big ice cube there?" he pointed at the empty space behind a fire extinguisher that had been placed right beside the stairs.

"What are you talking about?" Sonoko crouched right next to him. "Even if the ice melted the puddle..."

She trailed off, and Conan realized that she had finally understood what he meant. That the water would run because of the wax then form a puddle right at the bottom of the stairs.

"Then it would really look like the tears that dead student, Hosaka Hideaki, cried, right?"

At the surprised faces everyone was pulling, Conan couldn't help but smile a bit to himself. Little by little, everything was beginning to make sense. The truth of the mystery behind this horror story was gradually coming into the light.

But a question still remained... Why would someone do this? And who?

There were three candidates. Tsukamoto Kazumi, Seku Kunishige ─ Hosaka's childhood friend ─ and Monobe Masao ─ art club member, who had been terribly disturbed, to the point of actually screaming, upon hearing what the note said.

Before he realized it, they were in the library, and Conan supposed that he had been a bit too much in his own thoughts. Kazumi was told about the desk, and she was _mad. _The kid was almost sorry for whoever had pulled this out.

... If it wasn't Kazumi herself, anyway.

"Say," his innocent voice broke through, and caused her anger to recede. "The books that Hosaka read before. Do you know which ones they are?"

She gave him a hesitant nod, and she showed them. _The Destruction of Tropical Rain Forests, Electronic Communications Discussion, History of the University _and _How Crustal Plates Affect Sounds, _those were the titles he would read, preparing to become a mangaka, as Kazumi had informed them.

Groaning, Sonoko held a hand to her head. "That doesn't explain anything!" she exclaimed. "That doesn't explain how his lonely belongings have been moved to the courtyard."

For once, Conan did not argue. That was something he had yet to figure out as well.

"Speaking of the courtyard," Kazumi pondered. "If we ask the principal, we might get some clues."

_The principal?_

"On my way to the restroom, from the third floor, I saw the principal standing in the courtyard, as usual."

Without saying anything else, the four left the library, Conan trailing a bit behind, as he thought. Absently, he listened as the girls told the doctor that the principal had planted some trees in the courtyard and would constantly take care of them.

"We would see him from time to time carrying heavy bags of fertilizer for those trees."

"Oh?" Araide commented. "Looks like we all have our soft side, don't we?"

"Huh? But didn't you know that, since he told you before?" Sonoko blinked at the doctor.

Araide let out an awkward laugh and didn't add anything else. Conan chose not to comment on it either, considering that it had most likely been Vermouth instead of him.

_Now that I think of it, why did Vermouth take Araide-sensei's identity? Considering that the traitor Sherry was about eight by the time she escaped, it would have made more sense to look for her in elementary schools._

_... Damn, this is confusing._

"But Araide-sensei is right," at some point, Ran added with a smile. "Our principal is like that. Ever since the last one retired, the school has been a much better place."

"He lacks discipline, however. He's way too lenient," Sonoko shrugged. "He let Shinichi-kun back in class even when he had skipped for almost an entire year."

"Well, he did say that Shinichi helped him out with a case and that he was in debt to him..."

Conan blinked. "What kind of case?" he hadn't put much thought when he had been told that for the first time ─ his mind had been a mess with coming to terms with his brother's true identity and recovering from a gunshot wound that had almost claimed his life, after all ─ but now, he was curious.

Both Ran and Sonoko looked at each other, shrugged, then looked back at the child.

Now, _that _was intriguing.

Like so, they entered the principal's office. An old man, who seemed to be in his late fifties or early sixties, looked up from the papers he was filling to see who was coming. A kind smile drew itself behind his moustache and let them in.

Not wasting a second, Sonoko quickly asked if he had been standing in the courtyard when it was raining, and he replied that he hadn't been there today. He had been in a staff meeting, he had stated, taking everyone else aback.

"By the way, Araide-sensei," then, he turned to the doctor. "Thanks to the stretches you taught me, the pain in my hip has lessened immensely."

_... Hip pain? _Conan blinked, confusedly.

But it went unnoticed by everyone else, as Sonoko began to whisper to Ran and Araide to laugh, awkwardly, because it had not been _him _who had taught him all that.

After a while, Ran sighed. "Guess we should return to the library," she pointed out, turning around to leave, just like Sonoko and Araide. "Thank you for your time, Principal... Conan-kun, what are you doing?"

Conan did not answer, just stared blankly at the principal, who just flinched away at the child that wouldn't stop looking at him. Before anyone could say anything, the kid had suddenly climbed up the principal's desk.

Everyone stared, startled, at the sight of the boy, who held the principal's glasses on his hands. Ran panicked. "Conan-kun, give that back!"

But Conan paid no mind, tilting the glasses slightly, from side to side. "They look weird," he pointed out, with a focused, yet childish, look. "How old are you, Mister?"

"Conan-kun!"

The principal simply laughed. "It's okay. I guess they _are _a bit old fashioned," he commented, gently taking the glasses away from him. "I will need to take them back, however. I can't see anything without them."

Conan's eyes narrowed slightly. "You didn't answer my question."

"Come on now," with a groan, Ran moved closer and plucked the child up from the desk. "It isn't like you. To behave like such a spoiled child."

"But I want to know!"

The girl seemed as if she wanted to say something else, but the principal laughed again. "I'm sixty, little boy," he finally answered. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Yeah," the grin turned into a smirk, all of sudden. "Very."

Nobody really understood what had gotten into the kid, but probably assumed that it was a mere case of childish obsession with things that were not important since they let go just like that.

Soon, they were off to the library, but decided to take a detour when Conan casually suggested to go visit Seko, who was resting in the health suite.

He claimed to have been in bed all that time.

"By the way, where's the school nurse?" asked Ran, confused.

"Ah, he left early to go to driving school. He wanted me to go home and rest since my house is nearby."

"So you live around here?" Conan blinked.

"Ah, yeah."

It hadn't been a relevant piece of information, at least until they found something else, when they were passing by the school exit.

There was water, water marks all in a single spot in the floor. And that hadn't been there last time they had passed by, they all clearly remembered.

_Ah, could it be?!_

Without wasting a moment, Conan took off running to the middle of the courtyard, not minding at all that he was wearing slippers outside. Upon seeing what he had been looking for, he stopped in his tracks.

Marks, carved into the mud, met his eyes.

"What's that?" he was startled when he suddenly heard Ran's voice, and spun around to see her crouching down next to him. "There are some marks."

"Y-Yeah," he nodded.

Not much was said thereafter, as Ran picked him up from the ground and carried him back, scolding him lightly for running out without his shoes on.

"Say, Ran-neechan. Can you gather everyone by the door of the art room?"

* * *

"Why is your umbrella wet?"

Seko's eyes widened, spinning around to see the little boy standing next to his umbrella, clearly pointing at the puddle of water forming beneath it. Soon, he realized his surprise was showing, and shrugged.

"My umbrella was too dirty so I washed it with faucet water."

"Ah, is that so?" blinking, innocently, the kid went and took it. Before anyone could stop him, he had already opened it, splashing water all over the place. "It must have been _really _dirty, huh?"

Sonoko stared, a bit confused, as the child seemed to play with the umbrella, a curious look plastered on his eyes as his fingers poked one of the tips. Gradually, and upon remembering the strange marks Ran had told her she had found on the courtyard, her eyes began to widen.

"Ah!" suddenly, she screamed, earning everyone's attention. Then, she pointed at Seko. "Seko-senpai, you're the culprit!"

"E-Eh?!"

The girl in question recovered quickly, hands going to her hips and a smirk blossoming on her face, moving closer to him so she could give out what she had deduced.

Mirroring her expression, Conan quietly walked away from his visible spot, silently slipping out the room without anyone noticing. _I gave Sonoko-neechan enough hints. She should be able to solve this, _once out, he gave the girl a brief look, before running off. _As much as I want to be there to see if she got it right... There's something else._

_Another case I need to solve._

* * *

Smiling to himself, the principal walked inside to his office, after another season of watching those trees he had planted on the courtyard. They were strong and healthy, and the man couldn't wait to see what they would become in a few more years.

_Well, _a sad smile crossed his face. _If I live that long, anyway._

Sometimes, like this one, he would wonder. Alone in his office, he would wonder what his life would become if he hadn't messed up so badly. Maybe he would have found love. Maybe a wife? He had never had a love story anyways.

Shaking his head, the principal sighed, realizing that his mind was going to a dangerous territory. He had to cheer up, he hadn't been the kind that would mop around, anyway.

His hand moved to the papers on his side, but stopped suddenly. _W-What's that? _he covered his ears at the high pitched, weird and equally annoying sound that was filling his ears. _Where is that coming from?!_

He followed the source and the sound suddenly stopped. Not that he had the time to actually be relieved because he was staring, completely confused, at the young little boy sitting under his desk. He held a bowtie in his hands.

"Hi," the child grinned.

"... What are you doing?"

"It was annoying, wasn't it?" he spoke, crawling from under the desk, completely disregarding his previous question. "That sound."

The principal blinked twice. "Was it you?"

He nodded, eagerly, but then paused, eyes widening. "But that's weird," he pointed out, looking at his bowtie. "I was pretty sure that the frequency was about 13KHz..."

"And what's wrong with that?" he didn't even question _how _this child knew that. It hadn't really crossed his mind.

"Did you know?" the bright smile was back. "The hearing range of a human goes from 20Hz to 20KHz... But as time goes by, this range shrinks more and more as you get old."

Then, a smirk suddenly crossed his face, making the principal's body tense, by pure instinct.

"How would a sixty year-old be able to hear such high frequencies?"

The man's eyes widened, horror briefly crossing his features, watching as the boy's little hands slid inside his pockets, and began to walk around. "It would make sense, however, if you happened to be much younger than that," his piercing gaze fell on him. "How old are you, really?"

"Didn't I tell you, boy? I'm-"

"Thirty-three," the man went silent with shock. "Or thirty-four, that actually depends on when your birthday is, I guess..."

The principal couldn't find the words to say, frozen on his spot as the kid casually pointed out the facts for him. A little boy that couldn't be older than _eight_.

"You must be wondering... 'How does this kid know that much?', and that's actually a legit question," Conan continued. "The truth is... I _know _who you are.

"_Cheerful, a bit too soft, single, has an excellent sight..." _he remembered all those random facts that Heiji had found out for him, many months back. "_... and has a nasty scar along his leg from when he was a child."_

"From the moment when you said you suffered from hip pains, even though you carry heavy bags of fertilizer around. And when you claimed you couldn't see a thing without your glasses, even though you have no prescription... If you want to pretend you're an old person, next time you would like to stick to your character."

"W-Who are you?"

"Edogawa Conan, detective," with a shrug, the child started to walk towards the door. "By the way, you might want to hide that scar in your leg better. I took a peek at it when I was hiding under your desk."

The principal could not make a sound, but stood up suddenly, frozen by fear and pale, very pale, staring with wide eyes as the child, upon reaching the door, turned around.

"Ah, don't worry. I'm not going to do anything with this information," the child then let out a slight smile. "I just wanted to find you, Watanabe-sensei."

Watanabe Satoshi's shoulders slumped a bit, and the smile in that boy's face widened. With a swift bow, Conan finally left the room, feeling lighter, somehow.

Letting out a relieved sigh, the child turned around to leave. Something ─ or rather, _someone ─ _stopped him before he could even take a step.

"So this is where you were, Conan-kun!" Ran was there, crouching next to him. "We have been looking everywhere for you."

"A-Ah, sorry," he tried to sound as convincing as possible. "Did Sonoko-neechan find out who was responsible for the hauntings?"

"Yeah, she did," Ran let out a smile. "You should have seen it, Conan-kun, she was amazing! I would tell you everything about it..." suddenly, a slight frown crossed her face. "... but then again, it would be a waste of time, no?"

"Huh?"

"After all, you solved it on your own. You just pointed out the clues outloud for Sonoko to deduce it," Conan's eyes widened. "Come on! Don't look so surprised, Conan-kun. You have been doing this for more than a year now."

Conan blinked, slowly. "... How long have you known?"

"From the very beginning," she stated, with a neutral expression, before she smiled. "I know you ever since you were born, Conan-kun. Of course I know what you are capable of."

Giggling a bit at his dumbfounded expression, she stood up.

"Dad was so happy that he was beginning to actually solve, and get cases, and I figured you would be embarrassed if I pointed it out," she took his hand, and began to take him away. "It worked better for everyone that way."

"... I-I see," the kid managed. "Should have figured out you knew everything, Ran-neechan."

"Not everything."

Pointedly ignoring that, Conan wriggled away from her grasp and rushed to where Sonoko and Araide were waiting for him, at the end of the hall.

* * *

"I have finally figured it out," Haibara looked up from the book she had been trying to read when he heard the boy speaking, out the blue. "What you kept hinting before."

Far from understanding what he was talking about, the girl's eyebrow raised, silently watching as Conan set his bag on the desk beside hers. Realizing that he was smiling, brightly and happily, for some reason, Ai couldn't help but stare.

"... Did you consume anything strange before coming here or...?" the scientist said, unblinking.

"No, but I realized it. I finally, _finally, _realized it. The truth I had been looking for months, if not an entire year," smile unwavering, the boy sat right next to the girl. "All along you had been trying to make me see it, right? That my brother was not a bad person."

Her eyes widened, slightly, finally understanding what he was talking about. So, with a smile, he continued.

"When I confronted him about this, he said that he would find witnesses and '_make them disappear'. _He never said to '_kill', _specifically," he stated. "He was actually protecting them. Aiding them into settling into a different life, somewhere else."

She stared at him, for a moment, taking into his bright grin, that looked as if nothing would erase it, and couldn't help but smile a bit as well ─ that smile had to be contagious, she realized. "Bingo," she shrugged, looking back to her book. "Took you long enough, Kudo-kun."

"Would have been faster if you just told me."

"But you wouldn't have this chance to grow as an individual, would you?"

"Hey, you..."

They fell into silence, as the girl flipped the pages of her book. She noticed, by the corner of her eye, that Conan was fidgeting a bit, as if struggling to say something. Haibara had absolutely no idea of what could be passing by his mind, but didn't speak of it.

It wasn't until she noticed him inching towards her that she looked up. "Could you let me read, _alone?_" she stressed upon noticing he was trying to read from above her shoulder.

"... You are reading mysteries?"

"When you're surrounded by so many detective freaks, it actually makes you curious about this genre."

"You should _really _read Arthur Conan Doyle."

"No."

"Come on, give a try," the boy actually reached for his bag and looked for something. "Here, I will lend it to you."

For a couple of seconds, Haibara merely looked at the book he held on his hands, before she reached for it. Silently, her eyes scanned the cover. It was _A Study in Scarlet._

"Do you actually carry this wherever you go?"

"... It's not a crime, is it?"

Shrugging a bit, the girl accepted the book without giving it another thought. Soon, Kobayashi entered the classroom and their attention drifted back to the teacher.

By the corner of her eye, she noticed Conan glancing at her from time to time, and wondered what was wrong with him today. She even caught him staring once, and he instantly looked away, face warming up, embarrassed.

Haibara was clueless.

Clueless, that was, until she opened the book many, many hours later when she arrived back home. Her eyes went wide when she saw something unusual and her fingers gingerly grasped it.

In her hands was a small, yet pretty flower, which resembled a blue, tiny little bell.

A bluebell.

The lips curved, ever so softly, amused beyond belief. _You never cease to surprise me, do you, Kudo-kun?_

Because no words were needed to understand what he meant. She understood it perfectly:

_Thank you, Haibara-san._

* * *

A/N:

Guest: Well, I don't exactly have a fixed schedule, since I usually publish one chapter when I have finished writing another one. That usually happens every four to five days, but sometimes it takes a bit longer.

Nowan: That's a tough question, actually! Honestly speaking, I really, really like many characters, such as Heiji, Shinichi/Conan and Ran... But if I had to choose a favourite, it has to be either Kaito or Ai.


	58. The Newscaster's Dark Secret

**File Fifty-Eight: The Newscaster's Dark Secret**

"_Mother crow, why do you squawk so?"_

Just like it had appeared, that eerie song instantly vanished from Conan's mind as soon as he shook his head. Then he blinked twice and looked again, and just saw Okino Yoko typing on her phone with a smile plastered all over her face.

He let out a long, heavy sigh.

_I need to calm down. Whenever I see someone using a cell phone... I remember Vermouth immediately._

There was no wonder that he did, though.

Spending the entire duration of spring break without any books, enclosed inside the house hadn't been easy. Especially when that meant leaving him alone with his own mind, which wouldn't stop wondering and wondering what that melody was. That sad, melancholic sound he had heard when he was in Jodie's car before.

It wasn't until Kogoro had a case that he had been allowed to come along. There he had met Haga Kyosuke ─ an incredibly skilled musician, who had perfect pitch and had been capable of playing a Stradivarius, and had also killed some people a few days back ─ and asked him about that melody. He had said that it sounded like that children's song, _Nanatsu no Ko._

Therefore, he had been able to figure it out. The boss' mail address.

At some point, a certain strawberry blonde scientist had called him to check on him since he wasn't let out, not even to the Professor's. Maybe her gut, or her woman's intuition, had told her that he was about to do something stupid, he didn't know.

But she _did, _for some reason, and didn't buy his story when he lied and said that there was nothing new. So, he had been forced to confess about his new discovery.

She had been horrified.

"_Listen, that mail address is the Pandora's box that you must never open!" _

"_... It wasn't a box, you know. That greek myth actually talked about a jar. It was a translation mistake- "_

_"Kudo-kun, _your _mistake is going to cost you your life. All of our lives, for that matter."_

_"..."_

_"Do not even dare to think about it again, do I make myself clear?"_

_"... Perfectly clear."_

At least Haibara's stern voice had stopped him, however, from doing something incredibly reckless...

Such as actually _calling_.

... Conan guessed he had had brighter ideas than that one.

_I wonder, however... I wonder if, beneath it all this evil, we can find the hope we need._

_The hope we need to end this. For good._

He figured his horror must have shown on his face, because Ran instantly asked him if there was something wrong, but he shrugged it off with a smile.

That seemed to convince her, or at least, Conan hoped it was enough. Ran had been particularly distrustful of him these days, giving him a suspicious look every once and then when she thought he wasn't looking.

Ran wasn't stupid, Conan knew that. And she knew something was off.

But that didn't mean he was willing to tell her just yet. He had gotten so many people involved, more than he should have.

Conan did the best to shake those thoughts out of his head in favour of sipping into his orange juice. Because Kogoro had been invited on a TV program, with Okino Yoko, they were in the restaurant at that same TV station, having breakfast.

Yoko had said that she would join them later, since there was someone that she wanted to introduce to Kogoro.

Sure enough, the idol came over to them with a woman, whose face was incredibly familiar. Upon a closer look, they realized she was no other but Mizunashi Rena, a famous newscaster.

"Wait, Yoko-chan, are we really going to ask that famous detective for such a thing?" Rena seemed apprehensive, for some reason.

Feeling curious, Conan rested his cheek against his open palm. _If, a year ago, someone told me that Occhan was going to be such a famous detective, and that so many famous people were going to ask for his help, I would probably have sent them to an asylum or something. Or tried, at the very least._

"That's fine," Yoko smiled, brightly, as usual. "I'm sure Mouri-san will be a big help."

_... Now that I think of it, one of his first clients was Okino Yoko, wasn't she?_

He couldn't, for the life of him, imagine the reason why such a famous idol would ask for help from such a lousy detective. Conan shrugged.

As it turned out, Rena's problem was actually a bell-ringer prank. Every Saturday, someone would ring her doorbell early in the morning, but she had never been able to catch whoever it was.

So, they agreed to investigate at her apartment in Haido City.

* * *

Conan tried not to wince when the door slammed right into Kogoro's face the moment he rang the bell. Ran gasped, loudly, and Rena worried, almost panicking when she saw him there, bending over.

"You know, it's common knowledge not to stand _that _close to a door, in case _this _happens," Conan pointed out, unhelpfully.

Kogoro was far too busy with his gradually bruising nose to do much else but to groan at him, and glare of course.

"At least we found out there's no time to hide," the kid shrugged, before letting himself in, uninvited.

Not that Rena particularly cared, just smiled and let the other two inside as well, and made their way to the living room. Conan slid away from their sight, and backed away to the door.

_I swear I will never get used to this, _he sighed, chewing on some gum while taking out the hidden microphone and transmitter in his glasses. _Well, I guess this is for the greater good, _he slowly opened the door and set it up on the side of the door. ... _Even if that means sticking chewing gums in walls._

He was glad that nobody was watching him.

... Except that, he had that feeling that, indeed, he was being observed. His eyes fell on the building right across the one he was standing, but he failed to see anything.

Maybe he was imagining things, he supposed.

* * *

The 'prankster' turned out to be a little child, a bit younger than Conan, who was worried about Rena. Because she had been moved from Saturdays to Sundays' morning report, he had thought she had been oversleeping, and that was why she wouldn't be there.

"... If she had overslept for _that _long, I don't think she would be able to maintain that job," Conan pointed out, watching as Rena crouched down to the child, who had just confessed that the reporter looked exactly as his deceased mother.

"Don't be so hard on him, Conan-kun," Ran said to the child. "He's young."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "I _am _young."

"He's younger than you."

"Even then-"

"Stop it, brat," Kogoro let out a sigh. "It's too early for this."

Conan gave him a long look, before watching the child smile to Rena and rush back home. _... Am I really that different from other children? _he wondered, briefly, before glancing at the reporter.

Blinking, confused, he noted that Rena's eyes were watering. "Just..." she wiped them, quickly, when the other two noticed. "I had a little brother of that age back in the days, too..."

If she had teared up just upon remembering him, Conan almost feared knowing what had happened to him. Best case scenario, that woman hadn't seen his brother in a long time and, therefore, missed him dearly. He honestly hoped that was the case.

Whatever it was, the case was solved like that, even if it had turned out to be such a discouraging one for Kogoro, who was grumbling about it the entire way home.

As he talked with his daughter, Conan trailed behind, a rather annoyed expression plastered all over his face. _That kid was one or two years younger than me, considering he was in elementary school, _his arms crossed behind his head. _Isn't he old enough to understand how the world works...?_

_Or I am the only one? Haibara-san would, and I'm pretty sure Ayumi-chan and the other two would..._

_... Would they really?_

A ring in his pocket caused the child to pull his phone out. _Ah, it's him again,_ he barely gave it any thought, before answering it and pressing the device next to his ear. _His calls had gotten more often, _he observed, as he maintained a conversation with his brother. _Before he would call once a month if I was lucky, but now... I think the frequency has risen to, at least, once a week._

Maybe he was worried, he guessed, but said nothing about it. It wouldn't be so far fetched, considering all those encounters with the men in black ─ he hadn't yet told him about Gin, but it wouldn't be weird if Haibara had told him or Shinichi had found out on his own.

"You sound unusually quiet today," Shinichi then pointed out. "Is there something on your mind?"

Conan hesitated.

"Conan?"

"... Am I weird?"

"Huh?"

With a sigh, the child decided to tell him about that case with the reporter.

"Oh, so he thought that?" Shinichi chuckled. "That's cute."

"How?" he huffed, irritated.

"So, you're worried about how different your thought process is from other children," his brother caught right away. "Is that what's worrying you?"

The child didn't reply, just looking up when something wet hit his shoulder. _Oh, rain, _he noticed that dark clouds were slowly covering the bright blue sky.

"Well, I guess you've always been like that," the teen continued. "You've always been unsettlingly smart."

Conan gave him a non-committal hum in response, unable to deny that sentence, yet also unable to feel as if it was a compliment at the same time. "I might be, but still was stupid enough to get myself kidnapped," he pointed out.

He didn't miss the way Shinichi paused. It had always been a touchy subject, Conan knew, but he refused to keep it silent any longer..

"Well, that's true," after a while, the teenager conceded. "But if it wasn't for your help, we wouldn't have found you."

The kid blinked. "I thought _you _found me."

"Yeah, kind of," Shinichi replied. "Even if it had seemed to be accidental, you tore off one of the signs in the billboard and dropped your name tag, which ended up hidden under a cabinet in the struggle. That one had one of the characters of your name scratched off. You used your nails."

"And what does that mean?"

"The character you scratched off was '_Na'_, and the sign read '_nice to meet you'_, which, in turn, could be read as _yo-ro-shi-ku_, or 4649. Together it reads-"

"_Na 46-49. I saw him arriving the other day, he has a car."_

Conan's eyes widened, and suddenly he was cold, so cold. As if a bucket of icy water had been dropped on him.

_Wait a second, didn't that car belong to the Sakura Class' teacher?_

_But I'm sure. I'm sure he wasn't the one that kidnapped me..._

_... Could they have been working together, all along?_

_Then... Then... If only one of them was imprisoned for it..._

"What I mean to say, Conan, is that there's nothing wrong with being clever," Shinichi continued, unaware of what was going through the child's mind right now. "So what if you're different from other children your age? It saved your life before. You should be grateful for it."

"... A-Ah," he tried to play along, way too shaken about that realization to say much else. "I see..."

"It was a compliment, you know. You should take it, once in a while."

All of sudden, a creaking sound caused him to blink. Then, some steps and it dawned on him. _I forgot to retrieve the wireless tap and the transmitter._

"I need to go, call you later."

Then, without waiting for an answer, Conan ended the call and told Kogoro and Ran he had forgotten something at Rena's house, bolting the other way before he could be stopped.

It had seemed as if Rena had stepped on it, Conan couldn't help but let a humorless laugh at his always terrible luck. That laugh, however, was dissolved into nothing when the sound of a phone powering on was heard.

Then...

_Si... La... Sol... La_

That certain melody made his skin crawl and horror to decorate his features, while his mind instantly recognized it.

_... Nanatsu no Ko?!_

_It couldn't be, _a frown took hold of his face, as the boy forced his feet to run even faster. _It couldn't be that Mizunashi-san is..._

"Hi... Ah, I'm sorry," sure enough, Rena's voice rang through his ears. "I had a bit of trouble, so I turned off the cell phone... It's fine, it was some ridiculous trouble. I just sent a mail about it to that person."

_... That person? _unable to believe that this was happening, Conan activated his glasses, so he could see Rena's position.

"Let's meet at 10 o'clock as promised, Gin."

At this point, Conan stopped on his tracks. _Gin... She said 'Gin'?! _there was no denying it at this point. _No, no... This is bad._ Without wasting another second, he pulled out his phone and dialed Agasa's number.

Just as the professor answered, he noticed the transmitter had begun to move faster.

His eyes fell on a car, going on the opposite side he was heading to. Mizunashi Rena was at the wheel.

_Like I'm letting you get away!_

* * *

"I called Ran-neechan using your voice and told her you were taking me to Tropical Land," said the child, as soon as he got inside the car. "You better stick with that story."

"A-Ah, okay," Agasa stammered, as he returned to the road. "But why didn't you use your own voice?"

Conan opened his mouth to answer.

"Most likely," just by hearing _that _voice, coming from the backseat, the boy felt already irritated. "Mouri-san is suspicious about this whole thing, and would be more likely to believe an adult's word than that stubborn, tight-lipped detective over there."

"Why is _she _here?" pointedly ignoring the scientist, the child sighed, head propped on his hand and eyes fixed on the window beside him. "I thought I told you _not _to bring her."

Agasa let out a nervous laugh.

"So?" Haibara continued. "Is this Mizunashi Rena really one of them?"

"Unless Gin uses his codename as a friendly nickname with people outside the Organization, I'm pretty sure that's it."

The scientist paled at the mere mention of that name.

"But you were lucky," commented Agasa. "You got your hands on-"

"I just got gum with a wireless tap and transmitter in one of their member's shoes," Conan raised an eyebrow, looking at him as he had said something _very_ stupid. "Before long, they will find it, and will wonder who put it there. And of course, Detective Mouri Kogoro, who was just in that room until now, would be the prime suspect..." his eyes narrowed. "Then, they will definitely..."

"They'll try to silence him," the girl finished for him. "Mouri Kogoro and, if necessary, everyone around him."

Conan didn't say anything else, just frowned deeper. The thought of that, everyone dying because of _him, _made him physically sick. He couldn't let that happen.

For that, he needed to retrieve that gum as soon as possible.

The transmitter suddenly slowed down, causing the kid to drift his attention at the shining dot in the middle of the map displayed in front of his left eye. "She's entered an indoor parking lot somewhere," he noted, judging by the sound of the engine echoing.

Another car could be heard, moving in parallel of Rena's. Both stopped, "What's wrong, Kir?" then, Gin's voice echoed. "The promise was for 10 o'clock."

"I'm sorry," Rena ─ _Kir? ─ _replied right away. "I felt like some car was following me, so I went around a bit."

For a slight moment, Conan panicked, thinking that she meant Agasa's car, but then reassured himself that they were far, far away from their position ─ at least 600 meters away. _Is someone else trailing her?_

"So can you please put away that Beretta which you're pointing at me behind that door? If you shoot me by jumping to some weird description, then you can't do DJ, right?"

_... DJ?_

"I guess that's fine," Gin's voice was unmistakable. "We can oversee within 500 meters of this building. If any weird car comes close, we'll know immediately."

"Stop the car," suddenly, Conan said. "Pull over your hood and pretend you're checking the car's condition. _Now._"

Given the severity of the child's voice, Agasa had no other choice but to comply right away. Meanwhile, Conan kept on listening. In a place they called 'Eddie P.', at 1 PM, Kir was to lead DJ to 'that spot'.

"Yes, yes," another voice, together with the sound of a different engine, joined the conversation. "I'll wait for you, Kir. Within my scope, please lead the guy and excite me."

"Ah, Chianti. Korn is also here."

Conan's eyes widened slightly. "Kir, Chianti and Korn," he mumbled to himself. "How many of them are there?"

Haibara's head raised at that, catching the boy's attention. "Hey," he asked, over his shoulder. "Do you know them?"

"I don't remember Kir," her eyes narrowed slightly. "But I've heard of Chianti and Korn. They're excellent snipers."

"Snipers?"

That didn't leave room for any doubt. They were definitely planning an assassination of someone.

"Well, it's time now," someone important, it seemed, since he could hear Vermouth speaking as well. He wondered who they wanted to kill so badly as to have that amount of members around. "Please leave me no work to clean up."

Chianti didn't seem to like her presence, since her voice got louder, and was blaming her for Calvados' death. Gin stopped her, saying that they had orders from 'that person' ─ whoever 'that person' was.

"Anyway... To think that the place is Eddie P..." Vermouth continued, as if nothing had happened. "Really, the place that fits perfect for hunting."

"Huh?" that was Vodka's gruff voice. "What do you mean with that?"

Vermouth laughed. "Why don't you study a bit of history on the other side, Vodka?"

The rain got more prominent after that, rendering Conan unable to hear anything over the loud noise. That, and there was also the fact that Haibara, feeling more than a bit anxious, was demanding to know what was going on.

Conan gave her a long look.

Before bursting the door open.

"W-Wait, where are you...?!"

"Nowhere important!"

"As if I would believe that!"

Just as he spun around, he bumped into someone. He froze instantly, before he could even see who it was, at the sight of something pointing at him from inside that person's pocket.

"That's as far as it goes," Conan couldn't even move a muscle, eyes fixed on what it was, most definitely, a gun.

And he kept at it, even when he realized he _knew _that voice. Slowly, his eyes rose to meet Jodie's cheerful grin. "Hi, Cool Kid!" Conan could only blink when, instead of a gun, the agent took her phone and pretended to shoot at him.

"T-That wasn't funny, Jodie-sensei," it took a moment more than strictly necessary for Conan to recover his voice.

Not when he could still feel his heart pounding, painfully, against his ribcage. _Really need to stop getting stuff pointed at the face._

As it turned out, according to Jodie, the FBI had been investigating Mizunashi Rena, after she had been seen visiting the hospital where Vermouth ─ disguised as Araide at the time ─ worked, quite often. Jodie had been keeping watch on her from the building in front of her apartment.

_So that was why I felt like I was being watched..._

Upon learning that Kogoro was there for a child's prank, Jodie had determined Rena was innocent and was about to stop watching, when she spotted Conan running back, with a terrified expression on his face, so she had given Rena chase, until she realized it. Jodie had been forced to give up because of that.

"Anyways, this isn't something you should be taking care of, Cool Kid," Jodie then said to the child. "You should leave the rest to the FBI and return home."

"Does that mean you've got some clue?"

"I can't discuss details, but it seems she'll interview three people today. Perhaps one of those three is in contact with them. We think they may have some sort of transaction or information trade."

"A transaction alright. A sniper gives the victim a bullet, they give out their life in exchange."

Jodie paused at that, her serious expression dissolving so she could blink at the young boy, who was simply staring back at her, innocently, while keeping his hands behind his back.

"At one o'clock, somebody is going to die," with a sheepish grin, he adjusted his glasses. "Are you still sure I shouldn't be involved?"

Meanwhile, from inside the car, Haibara couldn't help but sigh. _Cocky, _she thought, as the boy seemed to explain everything that had happened to Jodie. _And that, considering he's the one who got himself involved in this mess..._

* * *

Conan eventually realized it. DJ actually stood for 'Diamond Jack' therefore, out of the three people Rena was to interview, the target had to be Domon Yasuteru, who had the character for 'land' in his name. Diamond, after all, meant land in astrology.

All that was left was to figure out where 'Eddie P.' was. _Now, Haibara-san said that P might stand for a park... But which one?_

"Anyway, it seems it'll be faster to call his office and ask for his schedule," to his surprise, Haibara typed something in her phone and passed it to Jodie. "Here, Jodie-sensei. This is the number."

"Okay," Jodie nodded, before pressing her phone against her ear.

But Conan could only stare.

"... What?" asked Haibara, without even turning.

"A-Ah, no," the boy jumped. "I was just thinking... You changed a little."

"You said so before."

"Yeah, I know. But before, anything related to them, you'd be like..." he crossed his arms, and did his best imitation of the girl beside him. "'Stop it,' 'It's dangerous,' 'It's wise to run', all the time."

"Did you seriously inherit your acting skills from your mother?"

"... You said so before."

That prompted Haibara to sigh. "Well, the careless behavior _definitely _comes from her," Conan barely held a pout. "As to actually get a transmitter and wireless tap stuck in one of their member's shoes. If they find it, then we all will be swept into this flame."

"That's true, but..."

"Besides... Besides, I..."

"_I don't want to run away! If I keep on running away, I can't win! Definitely not!"_

"_Don't run, Haibara-san. Don't run away from fate."_

"... Besides...?" Conan blinked, innocently.

Haibara turned to look at him, but her gaze fell somewhere else. Right behind the boy, the English teacher was smiling at her, winking and giving her a thumbs-up.

The boy kept on blinking.

Despite it all, Jodie's call ended up being considered a prank and they hung up on her. Without any leads left, Conan had no other choice but to keep on listening through the glasses. Rena was calling Gin, and told him she was heading to Eddie P.

They seemed to be worried about the rain, for some reason.

_We have less than thirty minutes left, and we don't have a clue._

_Eddie P... Eddie P..._

_... Edward?_

"_Really, the place that fits perfect for hunting."_

"_Huh? What do you mean by that?"_

"_Why don't you study a bit of history on the other side, Vodka?"_

Then it fell on him, all of sudden, seeing a book at Mizunashi Rena's home. _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde._

"Edward... Edward Hyde..." they heard him mumble, incoherently,

_A place perfect for hunt... Now that I think about it, Hyde Park, in London, deers and boars still lived there until around the 16th century... A hunting ground for nobles._

The kid then gasped, startling everyone.

"Haido Park! That's where Eddie P. is!"

"Huh?"

"Hurry, Professor!"

"Uh... O-Okay."

* * *

"Say, Sensei, do you carry a gun?"

"I... I do have one."

"A silencer?"

"I-I have it."

"Then shoot all sprinklers you find."

"... What?"

"Trust me. I know what I'm talking about."

Conan didn't know why Jodie trusted a child like him right away, but she did. Soon, everyone was opening their umbrellas when they felt the droplets of water falling over their heads. With them in the way, it was downright impossible for them to eliminate the target.

It did end up raining for real, however.

Because of that, they decided to move somewhere else for the interview. Domon, the target, let his many, many fans to follow. So, the crowd started running, excited.

Among them all, one of them accidentally bumped into Rena. Her shoe was left behind, and kicked aside.

Conan did not let this chance go.

He began to run, as fast as he could, knowing that there wouldn't by any other opportunity as this one. His fingers stretched, and he fell on his knees. His smile widened.

Finally, _finally, _he grasped the shoe. His hand, however, wasn't the only one grabbing into that object.

Startled, he looked up, and all the colour didn't take long to drain from his face.

Because there, in front of him and wearing a surprised expression, just like his, was no other than Mizunashi Rena. _Kir _was looking at him.

_... It was too good to be true, huh?_

For the longest time, no one moved, just stared at each other, frozen on their spot. Not caring if the rain was soaking them wet.

Something passed by Kir's eyes, something Conan couldn't read, and took out the microphone she had on her ear. Slowly, her hand raised.

Disguised between the droplets of rain, cold sweat dripped from Conan's forehead at the feeling of her fingers, gently pressing against his neck. "Perhaps..." she said, softly. "Did you follow me?"

"... No?" he cursed, mentally, when his answer came more like a question than an answer. "I was just around here, I saw you and came to say 'hello'."

"Really?" Kir's expression did not change.

"Really," lied Conan, with a slight frown.

Her fingers pressed a bit more, before they released him altogether. "I see," a gentle smile made an appearance in her face. "Thank you for your help," slowly, Conan's hand let go of the shoe. "For picking up my shoe."

Conan guessed he should have pointed out that there was gum on the sole of the shoe and took it out, or at least done something else but to nod, dumbly, as the announcer put on it.

She turned around, but didn't leave right away. "Thank you very much," the gentleness in her eyes made Conan believe, for less than a moment, that the smile she was giving him was _genuine._

Except that couldn't be it, right?

There was something he was sure of, however.

Kir was being a bit too thankful for just a shoe.

Of course, neither Agasa and Haibara agreed with his choices, and quite honestly, he agreed with them. He should have done something, instead of just letting his one and only chance slip away from his fingers, just like that.

"But that person, somehow..." he tried to explain to them. "She gave me a... weird feeling."

None of them understood what he meant ─ not even Conan understood it himself ─ but let go when Jodie said that now, they could continue following them, since they definitely would attempt to eliminate their target again.

"Well, leave it to the FBI from this point on," Conan had expected to hear those words sooner or later. "You should return home with this Beetle."

He didn't expect, however, her hand falling on the top of his head.

"But I'll borrow this kid."

Blinking owlishly, Conan's eyes fixed on the smiling woman, his mind needing a moment more than normal to process her words, and the fact that, for once, he wasn't being told _off _the case. _This _was new.

Didn't mean that he didn't enjoy it, a little bit at least.

Another car pulled up next to them, causing the child to focus his attention on it instead. "My boss volunteered to drive," explained Jodie, while Conan simply stared at the driver.

... _Wait..._

"James-san?!"

At his easily audible shock, the person in question turned to him and let out a smile, waving at him. Conan didn't find the will to wave back, just to stare, still in shock, at the person there.

James Black, from the Panda case, was Jodie's boss. A high-ranked FBI member.

_... Hey, hey, for real?!_

* * *

"I just remembered," at some point, Jodie asked her boss. "Have you found out where Shuu is?"

"Oh, if you're talking about Akai-kun, I was also looking for him," replied James. "You did explain to him this situation, right?"

"Yes, I also explained about the wireless tap and the transmitter this kid installed. But he just said 'I see', then hung up. I haven't been able to contact him ever since."

_A man of few words, huh?_

"Ever since he lost his lover, he seems to be closing himself in. Not that he was a much brighter character beforehand anyway."

_So that guy had a lover, eh? Someone that must have died recently._

_Judging by how Jodie-sensei usually talks about him, I had thought they had something further, but maybe I was wrong?_

_It could be an unsided thing, however..._

Voices were heard from the other side of the tap, so Conan was forced to listen carefully. They were planning to strike again, at 4 PM this time, when the target is in the car, under a bridge. Chianti and Korn were to support cover, Vermouth ─ disguised as Busujima Kiriko, who had been suspected for sending a killer to the target before ─ would use a motorcycle, then fall in front of DJ's car to stop him so he would get out the car, then Kir would shoot him from behind.

The place was Bein B. _Bein... Vane. Pointing out a word for feathering of the arrow... Then..._

"Toriya Grand Bridge," said Conan, quickly. "At 16:00."

The adults gave him a surprised look, but didn't say anything else.

"Hey, Kir. You aren't..." he heard Vermouth's voice, followed by a knocking sound. "... this, right?"

"That's stupid. Of course not."

Conan genuinely didn't understand.

After that, the operation didn't end well. As predicted, the bike was there, intending to get in front of DJ's car, but James' one slowed down so it would enclose it between the corner and the other two vehicles. Seeing no way out, the biker somehow managed to land jump and land on top of a random car.

But then, a soccer ball rolled in front of all that mess, and a child, unaware of the danger that was approaching him, crossed to get it back.

That car skidded into a stop, and the biker had a _bad _fall.

Upon removing the helmet, they realized however, it was not Vermouth in disguise.

It was Kir instead.

* * *

The transmitter had disappeared. He could sort of hear something, very faintly, from the wireless tap but there was nothing he could understand.

Jodie was told, over the phone, that two cars ─ a Porsche 356A and a Viper ─ were getting farther away from the bridge. That, together with the fact that their target's car was right in front of their eyes, made Conan's blood freeze in his veins. That feeling became worse, when they said the cars were heading towards Haido City.

"They're heading to Beika City!" the desperation in the child's voice was obvious, yet so incredibly unusual that it stunned the other two. "They must have found them..." and his face was pale, white as snow. "The wireless tap and the transmitter, they found them!"

He stood up on his seat, leaning over so he could be as close as possible to the driver. "Please, hurry!" he exclaimed. "Occhan... Occhan is in danger!"

James said no other word, just turned around and accelerated. Jodie, on the other hand, just frowned, watching the usually cold-headed child fumbling with his phone. "What?!" he exclaimed, to whoever was on the other side of the line. "What do you mean Occhan went back home?!"

Letting out a shaky breath, Conan ran a hand across his hair and, without giving out any other explanation, hung up on the professor before dialing another number.

_Why, why now?! _there was a gasp and a groan, letting the ex-teacher know he was incredibly frustrated. _It's occupied... Why is Occhan's phone occupied right now?!_

"Cool Kid," then, Jodie turned around and met Conan's panicky gaze. "Calm down. We'll think of something."

Yet, Conan couldn't just calm down. Not when Kogoro was about to die. Not when he could do nothing to avoid it.

Not when it would be his fault, for not thinking things through.

"Can you hear me, Mouri Kogoro?" when, all of sudden, Gin's cold voice ran through his ears, Conan couldn't help but shiver. "Don't move. Your back is completely covered by us. I have something to ask before your suit gets some holes."

Gritting his teeth, Conan looked over the window. They were nearby.

"It's your relation to Sherry. The wireless tap and the transmitter you planted are similar to the one planted by her."

But what could he do, even if he was there? It wasn't like he could be faster than a bullet.

"I will give you ten seconds. If you'd answer, then take your left hand away from the earphone and raise it."

_Earphone... _Did that mean that he was listening to the horse race on the radio?

"Ten."

Then... Then he might have a chance.

"Nine. Eight. Seven."

The Mouri Detective Agency could be seen from the front window.

"Six. Five. Four"

Conan stood up. "Open the roof of the car!" he shouted, reaching for his shoes.

"Three. Two."

The air hit his face as soon as the roof was opened, yet Conan did not care. Just pushed the button on his belt, so he could produce a soccer ball.

"One."

_Zero! _he kicked the soccer ball, with all the strength he had.

Before anything could be said or done, the ball had collided against the glass window, shattering it completely. Not even waiting for the car to stop, Conan jumped out the moving vehicle and stood right in front of the building, just as Kogoro opened the window, with an angry expression plastered all over his face.

"Sorry!" waving his arms around, and making sure to be as loud as humanly possible, Conan forced an innocent smile. "I think I kicked it a bit too hard!"

"... Y-You...!"

"By the way, how did the horse race go? You were listening to it through that earphone, right?"

"Ah... Ah! I totally missed it because of you!"

For the next couple of seconds, Conan did his best to pretend he was engaging into a conversation with the older man, and to pretend he was definitely _not _listening as Gin ordered the snipers to kill them both. But then, he didn't hear anything else.

Someone had shot the wireless tape from Gin's hand.

He didn't know exactly what happened, because he couldn't see from his spot, but he did see a black Porsche and a Viper driving away in the distance, as if escaping.

His gut said it had something to do with Akai Shuichi, however.

_Well, it doesn't matter. Everything turned out okay at the end, right?_

"Hey, brat, are you listening to me?!"

_... Almost everything._

"You better come up here, you hear me?!"

With a tired sigh, Conan nodded at him, realizing he had no other choice but to comply without a word. _Hopefully, I won't end up grounded again..._

Once the child had disappeared from his sight, Kogoro let his shoulders drop, downright collapsing on his chair.

"Hey, Mouri-kun!" from the phone he had left on his side, a panicked voice could be heard.

He rushed to pick it up. "A-Ah, sorry, Inspector," he said, with a nervous laugh. "I completely forgot about you."

"Forget about 'sorry', were you trying to give me a heart attack or something?!" Inspector Megure yelled at him. "You can just call and say 'I think something is up. I'm going to leave you in the line in case anything happens', what were you thinking?!"

"What should I've done? The Professor and that little brat girl were acting strangely."

They had, after that, suddenly brought him and his daughter to his house to _play_ _video games. _Not to say that Conan, who supposedly had come with them at Tropical Land was nowhere to be found. That he had headed back home.

On top of that, he was outside, playing _alone _with the ball for no reason.

And there was the fact that the little girl had almost panicked when Ran said she would go back home to make him some dinner. She had _pleaded _her to stay there.

"But that was too risky!"

"I know," Kogoro's expression went solemn. "But if I don't take any risks, we won't get anything."

Not waiting for a reply, the detective hung up on him. The brat was almost at his door, and he definitely didn't want him snooping around.

* * *

Even when smiling at the little girl sitting beside her as they played, Ran's heart wouldn't stop pounding. Her hands were sweating against the controller, she honestly hopped Ai wouldn't realize.

Her father had deliberately gone to face whichever danger Agasa, Ai and, possibly Conan, were so desperately trying to keep them away from. He had reassured her he would be okay.

But...

_"Dad, you know something!" she had shouted at him, moments before Agasa would call to invite them over. "You know, don't you? You know what mess Shinichi and Conan-kun got into!"_

_Kogoro hesitated, but then looked at his daughter's pleading eyes and let out a long sigh. "You must promise you won't say a word of this to anyone," he said to her. "Not even Shinichi. Not even Conan."_

_Slowly, the girl nodded, leaving his father to close his eyes. "Remember those three murder cases where the killer would leave sake cups?"_

_"Of course I do. We almost died right then."_

_"Hara-san, the programmer, was killed by a different person."_

_Ran stiffened, yet besides that, she did nothing but to wait for him to continue._

"_We still don't know who had done it, but he hid his phone so he probably knew they were coming for him," he continued. "There wasn't anything important on it, besides the fact that Hara-san hadn't erased his call-log."_

_Ran could only stare back at her father, a gradually deepening frown in her features._

"_There was a single person, who he had been contacting again and again. Whoever that was, went by the name of 'Singani'."_

"Ran-san?" blinking, the girl in question turned to see Ai's concerned gaze in her form. "You need to turn left."

"Ah, right," forcing a smile, the teen focused back in the game. "Sorry, I spaced out for a moment."

Ai didn't comment anything on that, just turned her gaze back to the screen and continued watching Ran play.

Who did her best to play along, even though she could clearly hear Agasa whispering over the phone. Her hunch said he was talking to Conan.

_"This Singani called once, actually," her father was hesitant, more hesitant than ever before. "And, at first, I heard Kudo Shinichi's voice."_

_Ran's eyes widened. "... Eh?"_

_And Kogoro's narrowed._

_"Well," but shook it off right away. "He did use my voice right after that, so he, or she, must have been using a voice changer or something. No need to jump into conclusions."_

A frown appeared in Ran's face, even if neither Ai or Agasa noticed.

_What did you get yourself into, Shinichi?_

* * *

A/N:

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Watanabe is the guy that Shinichi had supposedly killed when working for the Organization. Conan heard his name at around chapter 3 of this story when he saw his brother talking with Gin.

Lemon1412: You know, I can't really answer any of that XD


	59. Haibara Ai's Doppelganger

**File Fifty-Nine: Haibara Ai's Doppelganger**

Just a few days had passed ever since Conan, and his friends, had become third graders, yet it felt like barely anything had changed at all. His classmates were still loud, his classes still boring, and cleaning time was as tedious as he had always remembered.

So, like it was usual, the boy simply swept the floors, doing his best to block out Ayumi's voice as she scolded Genta for playing around instead of cleaning.

_Why am I doing this, when the Organization is most likely out there, looking for Mizunashi Rena? _sighing, he paused to look at the sky with a blank look. _Well, I do have to admit it. After everything that happened... This feels almost peaceful._

Another look at his classmates, more particularly at Ayumi, who was still scolding Genta, even louder than before, and he found himself smiling.

_I like peace. Peace is good. As long as this stays just like this..._

"This is terrible! Terrible, terrible!"

_... Maybe not this time._

Barely suppressing his urges to sigh again and continue with his work, Conan's eyes flickered over to Mitsuhiko, who had just bursted through the door, a panicked expression plastered on his face, before slipping on the wet floor and falling into his butt, knocking off a bucket filled with water all over the place in the process.

"So?" said the bespectacled boy, moving closer to the fallen one. Soon, all his classmates were crowding around him as well. "What's so 'terrible'? Besides making all this terrible mess that we all have to fix, of course..."

"It's a case!" he shouted, either ignoring or not noticing the latest comment. "A case!"

"A case?" Ayumi and Genta chorused.

"A fourth grade girl vanished into thin air!"

That, finally, gathered Conan's attention. The other two seemed interested at the instant as well, since their eyes opened widely.

"Actually, her older sister and my sister are classmates," the boy explained. "When I was younger, her sister would bring her along whenever she visited my house, so we're acquaintances. She called me up out of the blue last night and made me promise to walk home with her today, but..."

"... But she didn't come, right?" Conan completed for him.

Mitsuhiko nodded and the young detective's eyes narrowed just a tiny bit. Genta, on the other hand, deflated instantly, claiming that she might have caught a cold or something, to which Mitsuhiko argued that he had called her house, but no one had picked up.

"... Besides, she said she had a favor to ask... And that I should invite the rest of the gang to walk home with us."

"You mean the Detective Boys?"

"Yeah, she said she'd explain in detail on the way home. She seemed really worried about something."

Humming to himself, Conan cupped his chin with his fingers. "Could she have felt as if she was being followed or something?" he thought out loud, glancing briefly at Haibara, who avoided his gaze right away.

"Hey, what's her name?" but it was Ayumi who ended up asking the right questions. "What's she like?"

"She's in class 4-A, and her name is Amemiya Shoko-san," then, Mitsuhiko started to think. "She has brown hair, wavy, bob cut..." once again, Conan's eyes flickered towards the scientist. "Ah, yeah! She's kind of like Haibara-san!"

This time, Haibara did look away from the window she was cleaning, staring at him for a few moments until her eyes widened slightly. Mitsuhiko, seeing her reaction, blinked, but then realized that there was a shocked expression, mixed with concern, in Conan's face.

"... H-Hey," the reaction his two friends were having didn't sit well with Mitsuhiko. "... Does that mean?"

"Ah, no!" the change in Conan's demeanor was instant, suppressing his scary expression with a smile. "There's nothing to worry about."

Mitsuhiko tried to argue, but Kobayashi was at the door, checking on their job so he had to drop it right there. Reluctantly, Mitsuhiko let the topic go in favour of going to clean the mess he had done before, with the help of Genta.

"So?" at some point, Conan asked, while they were moving the desks. "What did the school say? Did they get in touch with her?"

"About that..."

"Who are you talking about?" Kobayashi, who had overheard them talking, was curious.

"Amemiya Shoko-san in class 4-A," replied the freckled boy right away.

"Ah, Amemiya Shoko-san? She was supposed to have the day off. She had to go to her grandfather's funeral in Kyushu," Conan listened to the teacher, as he moved another desk. "But yesterday she said 'I'm not going to skip school tomorrow,' so we were all a bit worried. She probably decided to go after all. Her teacher, Hirayama-sensei, thought the same thing."

"Hirayama-sensei?" blinked Ayumi, not recalling hearing that name before.

"He's a new teacher who started two days ago. The previous teacher got into a car accident so we needed a replacement-"

A loud sound all of sudden startled them, causing their heads to snap to the source, only to meet with Conan's unusual pale face, hands in the air yet holding nothing. There was a chair at his feet. "A-Ah, sorry," he jumped at the attention. "My hands slipped."

"Be a bit more careful, Conan-kun," scolded Kobayashi, without anger. "You will get hurt."

Laughing awkwardly, he bent down to collect the fallen chair so he could put it back into his place. _What are the chances, really? _he thought as he continued doing his work, doing his best to ignore the knowing look that Haibara was definitely giving him.

He remained completely silent, even as they gathered their things once their teacher told them she was going to lock the classroom. Putting on his cap, he trailed behind Mitsuhiko and the others as they approached class 4-A.

At this point, they didn't need to say anything

_Could they have figured out what Haibara-san actually looks like? _his mind wouldn't stop running, even as he asked, alongside his friends, the missing girl's classmates any kind of information. _She's actually a year older, so technically she should be in fourth grade instead of third._

_... So, with that striking resemblance and the same age, the idea of Amemiya-san being mistaken with the traitor Sherry is not completely implausible._

His eyes fell on Haibara, who was quietly talking with another group of girls before, wordlessly, he approached her.

Haibara blinked, confused, at the sight of the hat that he was handing her. Slowly, she raised her gaze to look at him, only to see him turning his head so he was looking through the window instead, his hand and hat still stretched to her.

With a smile, she took it. "Even a hat as ugly as this..." her smile turned into a smirk as soon as she put it on. "... can look nice if an incredibly cute girl wears it, don't you think?"

"Guess you're right," she was actually taken aback when he replied. "Too bad it's not your case."

Instead of feeling annoyed, it amused her instead. "Thank you for your concern, though," she passed by him. "I'm touched beyond words, Kudo-kun."

"Give it back."

Of course, she paid no mind to him and went to ask another group. Only then, did Conan look back at her, watching as she hid her hair inside the hat he had just lent her. Any other time, he would probably have felt more than a bit embarrassed.

Instead of that, a worried frown crossed his face.

* * *

Mouri Kogoro was more than a little frustrated at this point.

Murder cases, robberies, kidnappings... He was looking through all of them. Megure had let him ─ secretly, which was most likely highly illegal, but couldn't bring himself to care ─ take with him several cases files. Most of them were still unsolved, some of them were... doubtful, at best.

Such as the one he was currently reading. He remembered that woman, vividly, who was kindly smiling at him through that photo. Trying not to cringe at the resemblance of her lively blue eyes with his dear daughter, he put the photograph aside to take a better look at the file.

_Hirota Masami, twenty-five, _he read carefully. _Suicide._

When Conan had found her, Masami was alive, even if death had been more than imminent. Yet, he had tried. He had tried with all his might to save her, and that had been evident just by seeing his bloody hands, or the dullness of his eyes.

It had been heart wrenching to see a child so distraught as Conan had been then.

So, he hadn't thought much about it when it had been ruled out as a suicide, considering her fingerprints were all over the weapon. But now, he could only wonder.

_Would anyone really commit suicide by shooting themselves on the stomatch?_

Still, there was no telling if ─ assuming there was a culprit of course ─ that criminal was actually related to whoever killed Hara.

With a sigh, he put the file away and went to look through the next one.

A knock on the door caused him to huff, annoyed. "Can't you read?!" he shouted, without even moving. "We're closed today!"

Despite it, the door opened anyway. "I apologize," a strawberry blonde teenager walked in, as if he owned the place ─ which only added to Kogoro's irritation. "But there is something I want to discuss with you, Detective Mouri Kogoro."

Kogoro blinked at him, confused. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Ah, right. We haven't met each other, have we? Last time I saw you, it wasn't really _you,_" a cocky smirk, Kogoro had seen in many, many arrogant teenagers ─ and children, sometimes ─ crossed his features. "My name is Hakuba Saguru, detective."

"Hakuba?!" Kogoro gasped. "As in Police Chief Hakuba?!"

He merely stared at Kogoro for a few moments, with a blank look. _Well, quite the deja vu, _he sighed. "Yes, that's my father."

"Then what are you doing here?" the older detective was mostly confused. "What's that you wanted to discuss?"

Without waiting for an invitation, Hakuba closed the door behind him and promptly sat down in the chair in front of Kogoro's desk, resting his elbows on it and clasping his hands together.

"You were there, weren't you?" then, a focused frown appeared on his face. "When one of the Nishitamashi Twin Towers was bombed."

* * *

Putting together all the information they got from her classmates, Amemiya Shoko was smart, studious, quiet and cool. Would only speak when necessary and was popular among the girls, but at odds with the boys.

"Just like Ai-chan!" Ayumi pointed out, cheerfully, on their way to her home.

"A-Ah, but Haibara-san is liked by the boys, too!" flustered, and red as a tomato, Mitsuhiko was quick to say to the scientist.

_Yes, yes, yes... _Conan's eyebrow twitched as he thought, sarcastically.

Haibara smiled at the freckled boy, however. "Thanks," she said, quietly.

"No, no," he then laughed, awkwardly.

"By the way, Haibara," Genta had confusion written all over his face. "Why are you wearing a hat? Isn't that Conan's?"

Conan honestly hoped that the violent flinch he gave wasn't so noticeable as he thought it was.

"I thought it'd be nice to look like this every once in a while," Haibara, on the other hand, seemed to be barely fazed, if anything.

"Yeah, you look very boyish!" Mitsuhiko was grinning.

"So cool!" Ayumi smiled as well.

"... But still, I'm asking why she's wearing Conan's hat..." Genta insisted.

"Is there any rule that says she can't wear Conan-kun's hat?"

_Nice save, Ayumi-chan, _he thought, even though he knew Ayumi was simply defending his friend, unaware of the implications of their actions.

Sighing a bit, the focused frown returned.

"If that girl is like Haibara-san," he reasoned, outloud. "I highly doubt she was tricked and kidnapped by some weirdo. Either she was involved in an accident, or..."

"The new teacher is one of them," Haibara whispered to him, probably so she wouldn't worry the others. "And mistook her for me when he kidnapped her," her eyes flickered his way. "That was what you were thinking about, wasn't it?

Conan's eyes went to the floor. "According to her friends, she had been behaving strangely."

"Yeah," she nodded. "She would avoid her friends and walk home alone by herself when school ended. She wouldn't tell them why either."

"Maybe she sensed some sort of danger," he pointed out. "I mean, she tried to reach out for us, the Detective Boys... If she suspected her teacher wanted to abduct her, taking another route back home would explain everything. Maybe she felt that he was close to commiting the crime and wanted to talk with us, but..."

Haibara seemed to think about his theory for a moment, before opening her mouth. "I don't think that's the case," she then said to him. "If she felt she was being targeted, she would've surrounded herself with friends and family, and gone to Kyushu."

His gaze narrowed even more. "You're forgetting something."

"Eh?"

"Amamiya-san is like you, Haibara-san."

To that, Haibara couldn't find the words to properly answer, being more than aware that, given the case, she would have tried to stay away from everyone else.

"You're thinking too much about it," she settled with that, however. "This isn't like you. Any other day, it would be _me _the one bringing that kind of theory, wouldn't it?"

"It's hard not to think about that possibility."

The girl gave the boy a long look, before sighing tiredly.

"I'm not going to pretend I don't understand where all of this comes from, but..." she fixed her hat, giving him a brief smirk. "You can't expect time to repeat itself the same exact way."

Conan didn't look away from his feet, even when Mitsuhiko called them. Quietly, he followed the rest inside Amamiya's empty house, hoping they could find something, anything.

Anything that would help his mind to calm down, that was.

But far from reassuring himself, he found himself staring at the photograph over the counter. The resemblance that the girl had with the young scientist was striking.

"She does look like Ai-chan!" Ayumi pointed out, surprised.

Mitsuhiko, for some reason, brought his hand to his chin. "There's something else that's similar..." he said, more to himself than to anyone else. "Something about her that's similar to Haibara-san."

"Eh?" Conan blinked. "Are their voices similar at all?"

"Uh, no... Her voice isn't similar... She also doesn't speak with such biting words..."

Haibara glared. "I'm sorry to hear that."

The sound of the bell prompted everyone to spin around, facing the door just in time for someone to open it. Startled, the entire group stared at the bespectacled grown man standing right in front of them.

"Eh?" it seemed he was as surprised as they were. "W-Who are you guys?"

"Look who's talking, who are you?!" yelled Genta.

"I'm Amemiya Shoko-san's teacher at Teitan Elementary School, Hirayama Bungo."

Unconsciously, Conan's muscles tensed after hearing those words, taking a step back while his friends talked with him, unbothered by his presence at the slightless.

But he stopped in place upon noticing that Haibara was, as discreetly as possible, moving behind him so she would be mostly covered from his sight, pulling her cap lower to hide her face as properly as she could.

He bent down closer to him, and Conan had to suppress back a flinch.

Every single time that person smiled, kindly, down at the children, the boy couldn't help but see _that other teacher _smiling instead.

And it must have shown, because he felt Haibara's hand resting on his shoulder, even if she was still hiding behind him.

_This is pathetic. It's Haibara-san the one who's supposed to be in danger, yet I..._

"But anyway, who are you guys?" but then, he asked them. "Are you the neighbor's kids?"

_Huh? _Conan blinked, utterly confused.

"We're students at the school where you teach," so astonished, he didn't even react when Mitsuhiko gave him that information. "Teitan Elementary, from class 3-B."

"But why are you all there?"

"Amemiya Shoko-san from class 4-A," it was Conan who replied first, however. "We were worried and came to look for her."

He didn't miss the bewildered look Haibara sent his way.

"... I see. Maybe she went to Kyushu after all."

"Say, did Amemiya-san tell you she was going to be alone tonight?"

"Yeah, but she told me she'd be eating breakfast and dinner with her neighbor's house."

The next route of action was predictable after all. As soon as those words were pronounced, the teacher had to step aside in order to avoid being run over by a bunch of kids that suddenly rushed out the house.

As he passed by him, Conan didn't miss the way the teacher's eyes narrowed, studying every single one of the children.

* * *

"Say, Dad," Ran walked inside his office without even looking. "Have you seen Conan-kun...?"

But when she looked up, she was shocked to realize that her father wasn't alone, and there was someone else sitting across him instead. "Ah, Ran-san," the boy smiled, politely. "Long time not see."

"Hakuba-kun!" she blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in the middle of an investigation," he replied. "I heard you were at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers at the time of the attack," a smirk made an appearance, as if he was amused by the surprise the girl in front of him was showing. "It must have been though."

"Yeah," she still replied, warily. "But thankfully, we all got out okay," then turned to her father. "I see Conan-kun has yet to come back. Must be with his friends."

"Yeah," Kogoro grumbled. "He must have walked into a case again or something, that death magnet..."

"Dad!"

Hakuba seemed to peek up at that. "I had thought it was you who attracted death, Mouri-san," he commented, causing Kogoro to frown, slightly. "It has always been you the one who has been called a Shinigami all over the news..." none of them liked the way his smirk widened. "Besides that high school detective, Kudo Shinichi."

A short, yet pretty uncomfortable, period of silence followed that statement.

"We all are, in some sort of way," Ran was the one to break it, however, forcing an awkward smile to come out. "Anyway, Dad, I'm going out for a moment, okay? I'll be back soon."

"A-Ah, yeah," Mouri stuttered. "Be careful."

In a flash, the girl was gone and Mouri was left all alone with that detective. He did his best to ignore the suspicious look in his face as the teenager stared at the closed door where his daughter had been moments ago.

* * *

Amemiya Shoko hadn't been at her neighbor's house when they arrived.

_Of course, _Conan had thought. _It wouldn't be that easy, would it?_

They had managed to gather more information from that woman, however. Such as that Amemiya had apparently cried and begged her parents to be allowed to stay in Tokyo ─ which had shocked the group, unable to picture someone that was so similar to Haibara doing that sort of thing ─ or that she had been looking as if she hadn't been sleeping well.

Amemiya had gotten up early, however, and said that she would pass by a convenience store before school. That had caused Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi to conclude that the girl had fought with her parents and ran off.

The teacher had arrived as soon as they had taken off to the convenience store. As they were leaving, the man had given them that look that caused Haibara to shiver.

The store clerk had actually seen Amemiya Shoko that morning, and he remembered that she had bought a fruit juice in a small plastic bottle, milk in a paper carton and an exacto knife, which pretty much debunked the others' theory about her running away.

When Conan asked about any other strange behaviors, the clerk had said that Amemiya had stayed in the kitchen goods aisle for a while. That was why, a few moments later, they were there, in the place she had stood in for a long time.

"So, is there anything you want?"

Haibara didn't need to open her mouth to tell the bespectacled boy beside her that she wasn't following.

"... Well, you _are _supposed to be like her, so I thought..."

"That's stupid and you know it, Kudo-kun."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm stuck here."

Just as she was about to answer, they both saw someone else going inside, and the clerk pointing at them. The teacher simply looked over the group of children, before nodding.

"I thought you had other theories in mind," she stated.

"And I thought you were completely convinced that was not it."

"I know that much, but," she turned around so the man couldn't see her face clearly. "He's suspicious. In front of us, he has a friendly face but as soon as our backs are turned, he's glaring at us."

"Ah, yeah."

"... Why are you so calm about it, all of sudden?"

"Because I'm certain Hirayama-sensei is _not _involved with _them_."

Deciding that finding Amemiya was more important than explaining what he had said, he simply walked away, his friends following suit, outside the store. Upon reaching the door, they all got surprised to see a familiar face, standing next to her patrol car.

"Yumi-san!"

Yumi was equally surprised to see them there, and asked what they were doing so far from home. They then explained the situation to her, and she hummed, in thought.

Apparently, there weren't any kinds of calls about suspicious people around, or even car accidents. There had been plenty of them for illegal parking, and that was why she was there. She had come to buy a facemask, since she needed them for all three places she was going to head to.

In the first one the odor was unbearable because of people throwing their trash and crows scattering them around, the second one was an unused garage where she wouldn't stop sneezing whenever she went there ─ dust was Yumi's best guess ─ and the third one was nearby his ex-boyfriend's house, so she didn't want him to recognize her.

_If it was Haibara-san, where would she go? _as the conversation went on and on about Yumi's ex, Conan couldn't help but wonder. _It doesn't help that girl is as unpredictable as it gets..._

_Mitsuhiko said there was something else in common between them both... What could it be?_

"Ah!" Mitsuhiko's loud yell brought him out his thought process. "How can you eat at a time like this?!"

"What's the problem?" indeed, there Genta was, munching on a cookie, while he held a juice bottle on his other hand. "I get hungry when I think too hard."

_Don't think too hard, then,_ Conan sighed, watching as his friend began to chug into the juice.

"Oh, that's right!" the clerk came out of the store all of sudden. "That girl opened her juice outside the store right after she bought it and chugged it down all at once."

Conan's eyes widened, dramatically, at that.

And before they knew it, the kid was running to the closest trash bin, and rummaging through it. Everyone flinched when he knocked it down by accident, but he didn't stop, throwing over his shoulder several empty bottles.

Eventually, he stepped back, holding a cut bottle on his hands.

His friends didn't understand what was going on, and the store clerk seemed to be on the verge of an anxiety attack, but still watched as the boy stood in front of them, with a sheepish smile on his face. "Would you guys please clean this?" he said, not minding the way they whined, loudly, and turned to the clerk. "Can I have some hot water?"

The man blinked.

* * *

"Hey, Ra-"

"It's time you tell me the truth."

Shinichi stopped mid-sentence, blinking a bit at the seriousness of the voice on the other side of the phone. He had just called to check on her, because they hadn't talked much, lately, and he had barely managed to let out a word before _that._

"... What has gotten into you now, Ran?" he managed to say, after a while.

"I'm tired, Shinichi," she stressed out, with a sigh. "All those secrets, all these lies and half-truths... Everyone is hiding stuff from me."

"Everyone?"

"You, Conan-kun... Even Ai-chan and the Professor, I'm sure!"

Silenced by shock, Shinichi only limited himself to listen to his childhood friend, who sounded definitely exasperated, if not stressed, by this situation. He listened to her as she took a deep breath in and out, trying to compose herself.

He decided he didn't like this. At all.

"I'm scared, Shinichi," and he didn't like _that _either. "Conan-kun... Conan-kun is hiding things from me. I notice he lies to me from time to time."

"Ah, he does that."

"Yeah, but he didn't use to before!" her voice raised a little bit. "That boy... He had always been so honest. Before, he would never say anything unless it was the truth, but now..."

The high school detective didn't comment on that, remembering that Conan never lied to Ran. Or, at least, he didn't use to ─ he wondered when, exactly, _that _had changed.

"And I'm scared to think what makes him lie like that," Ran continued, eyes fixed on the sidewalk she was walking on. "I'm scared to think of what kind of trouble he has gotten into."

"What makes you think he got into any kind of trouble?"

Ran paused for a moment, giving the phone a puzzled look, even if the boy couldn't see her. "Are you joking?"

Shinichi didn't understand what he had said wrong.

"Do you seriously not remember about the Nishitamashi Twin Towers?"

"Yeah, but that was plain bad luck. You know that misfortune follows that kid wherever he goes."

Then, there was a sigh.

"Of course, he didn't tell you," Ran passed her hand through her face. "I should have imagined it."

"Tell me what?"

By the sound of the detective's voice, Ran could tell that he was feeling anxious, and most likely worried about what her words would be. Even so, she took her time to think over them, struggling to decide on how to tell him those news.

"When we were in the VIP elevator, on our way out," she soon realized, however, there was no way she could sugar-coat the facts. "A sniper tried to kill Conan."

Shinichi was pretty sure his heart stopped at that sentence.

* * *

Conan's friends honestly had no idea what the boy had in mind, but he kind of looked like he knew what he was doing so they simply followed him around.

For some reason or another, he had passed by a pharmacy right as Ayumi and Haibara got the warm water in Genta's empty plastic bottle, and Genta with Mitsuhiko cleaned up the mess he had caused. He had returned with powdered milk in a stick for babies, mixed it with the water, shook it and put it inside his jacket, against his chest.

"Alright, let's go," he had said then, succeeding in completely confusing the entire group.

But still went with him, after he had asked Yumi to take them to the unused garage where she would always sneeze uncontrollably.

So they did, and so _she _did ─ as soon as they entered the old garage, the poor traffic cop's nose started to itch, causing her to sneeze, repetitively.

And if her luck couldn't get any worse, after looking around for a while, Conan's eyes fell on a small space between some boxes, and promptly crawled inside. His friends followed.

Ayumi's scream followed after that, causing her to worry. So she tried to follow them, even if she was far too big to pass by such a narrow space.

Before long, she managed to squeeze through and, quite frankly, she had expected _anything _─ from rats to Amemiya Shoko's decaying body... But certainly, she didn't expect _that._

The children were gathering around a box and, inside of it, was a pair of small, and incredibly, cute _kittens_.

"I think these guys were the cause of your sneezing," Conan explained right away, with a smile. "You were probably allergic to cats, but didn't notice until now."

Yumi could only blink, before realizing that it actually made sense. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't been in contact with cats before, so there was no wonder she didn't know.

"I see!" Ayumi beamed, turning to see her female friend, who was petting one of the kittens. "That was the other thing Mitsuhiko-kun said Ai-chan and that girl have in common. They both love animals!"

"Ah, yes, yes!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed. "That's it!"

Haibara didn't even try to deny their claims, just smiled a bit more while stroking that little one's head, realizing that the only reason Amemiya wanted to walk with them was to ask them if they could find a home for these kittens.

The kitten closed its eyes, leaning its head against Haibara's hand, purring softly. She giggled a bit at that.

_Wow, _Conan couldn't help but blink, at the way her usually cold and hard eyes softened at the minine. _Haibara-san does become a different person around them..._ _I knew she loved animals but..._

_Come to think of it, has she ever had a pet? Wouldn't be surprised if not, considering..._

"Ah," Mitsuhiko suddenly exclaimed, and Conan then realized his mind had wandered away, again. "Look, that milk dish!"

"Yeah, she made it by cutting off the bottom of the plastic bottle that she bought," explained Conan. "Paper plates and cups were sold out, so she had to improvise."

"If she was taking care of them, it makes sense that she couldn't sleep," continued Ayumi, with a saddened look. "She was probably too worried about them."

"Yeah, she was worried," continued Conan, reaching for the milk dish. "She had a reason to be."

With a smile still present on his face, the kid promptly spilled the milk into the ground, earning shocked gasps from his friends, who were instantly mad for acting like that.

"What are you doing?!"

"She went through a lot of trouble to get that milk!"

"Oh," Conan raised an eyebrow. "So you want them to starve?"

"... Eh?"

Letting out a chuckle, the boy pulled out the bottle with milk he had been carrying inside his jacket. "Herbivorous cows and omnivorous cats have different minerals in their mothers' milk. If you keep giving them cow milk, they will get sick and stop drinking altogether," he explained, pouring the milk on the plate. "But, if you dilute powdered milk for human babies twice and warm it to body temperature..."

As soon as he set the plate on the floor, the kittens moved closer, examined it for a few moments before beginning to drink. Everyone beamed at that.

"She only did this because there are not pet shops nearby to buy cat milk-"

"And?" Haibara interrupted him.

"Eh?"

"Where is that girl, Amemiya Shoko-san, where is she?"

"I... kind of hoped she was here?"

The scientist raised an eyebrow at him, which he waved off with an awkward smile, before another sound rang through his ears. It sounded like a meow.

So, instantly, he ran out of the hiding place, not bothering to wait for his friends, who went right after him, or Yumi, who remained stuck there for a while. Soon, he found the source.

There was another one. An adorable black and white kitten with green eyes right across the road, who instantly nuzzled against Haibara's stretched hand. Conan looked at it for a moment, wondering why one of them was outside, when it suddenly hit him.

He took off running, frantically looking around for _that _one thing.

Until he found it. Broken shards from a car's headlight, scattered around the floor, next to a pole. Looking closely, he could see some marks on it.

"A car crash," was all he said, causing everyone to gasp.

"But I don't think there have been any calls about an accident in this area," Yumi pointed out.

"Hey, look," said Haibara, from her spot in the middle of the road. "Isn't this human blood?"

Indeed, there _was _a trail of blood, causing everyone to guess that Amemiya had tried to chase after the kitten that had escaped, only to get hit by an upcoming car. But Conan noticed, upon following the trail went in both directions.

_It must be the driver's blood... Then, maybe..._

They looked for her in every single hospital, but no avail. _This doesn't make any sense,_ it was as if the girl had vanished from Earth all of sudden. _But I'm sure, _Conan began to think, hard, in the backseat he shared with the rest of his friends of that mini patrol car. _That driver has most likely taken her to a hospital of some sorts, but..._

"Oh yeah," at some point, Genta commented. "Wasn't Araide's place around here?"

True to his words, next to him, stood Araide's house and Conan noted, absently, that there was a white van he didn't know parked outside. _Maybe it belongs to one of his patients, _he concluded, when they passed by it.

But then, he realized something. There was a huge bump in front.

"Yumi-san, stop the car now!"

Araide got quite the surprise upon seeing a cop and a teacher entering his small clinic, but sort of got over it when a group of children that he knew pretty well did the same, and let out a kind smile.

Conan then asked about the damaged car parked in front of his place, and he couldn't help but blink at how random that question was, before explaining that the driver was resting in bed because of a concussion, after getting some stitches.

"Did he mention anything about a girl?"

"Well, he came in carrying her saying 'I accidentally crashed into her, please help me'," explained the doctor. "While covered in blood."

"C-Covered in blood?!" Mitsuhiko worried.

"Ah, no, no. It was the man who was covered in blood."

Taking into their confusion, the doctor simply opened the door behind him, and stepped aside to let them see. In front of their eyes was none other but Amemiya Shoko, sleeping in a bed with Hikaru watching over her.

They simply stared at her, stunned, as Araide explained that she wasn't injured, but exhausted due to her lack of sleep. She had been slumbering so peacefully that the young doctor didn't have the heart to wake up to even ask her name, let alone call her school or her parents.

"... I'm so glad," behind them, the teacher started to tear up. "That Amemiya-san is alright... T-Truly..."

Blank stares fell on the grown man as he dropped into his knees, sobbing under his arm, blabbering something about being worried sick about his student. Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, upon realizing what was going on, tried to get him to stop crying. Conan merely rolled his eyes while Haibara, completely shocked about his actions, simply let her eyes widen.

"See?" the young detective whispered to the scientist, as they watched him clumsily looking for his phone so he could call the school. "He wasn't one of them."

Her eyebrow rose. "You were certain it was him."

"I wasn't certain, just considered him highly suspicious."

"... But what was that? He was glaring at us before."

"Not glaring, simply squinting," with a faint smirk, the boy slid his hands inside his pockets. "He probably had a bad eyesight and was trying to see better. Those glasses were probably made from an old prescription."

She looked surprised for a moment, but then shrugged, and her expression became plain and bored again. "Of course _you _would know."

"Excuse me for _that_."

Huffing irritably, he turned to the girl and promptly snatched his cap from Haibara's head, allowing her strawberry blonde hair to be free to be appreciated.

"Well, I knew he wasn't one of _them _the moment he asked if we were the neighbor's kids, even when we had our backpacks with us," smirk back on place, he put on his hat. "Even if he was _pretending _to be a teacher, it would be too foolish. That was when I concluded he couldn't see clearly."

The scientist looked as if she wanted to add something, but she didn't get to.

"Thank you for letting me borrow the toilet, Araide-sensei," instead, she watched as Conan's eyes widened at the sound of that familiar voice. "This is a bit embarrassing, but... Huh? Conan-kun, what are you doing here?"

Slowly, the child turned around and blinked, confusedly at the girl who simply stood in behind of them, mirroring his expression.

"Ran-oneesan! What are you doing here?" it was Ayumi, however, the first one to react. "Are you sick?"

"Ah, no, I'm okay. I just wanted to talk with Araide-sensei about something."

_Talk? About what?_

"Eh?!" Genta was scandalized for some reason. "But I thought you were with Shinichi-oniichan!"

"That's not it," Ran tried to laugh it off, even if her cheeks were warming up.

"... So you are not cheating on him?"

"Genta-kun," despite her smile, Ran's eyebrow was twitching. "Shinichi and I are not together-"

"Officially," interrupted Conan, with a plain voice.

"Conan-kun, you know that's not it!"

_Yeah, but I also know you two are the only ones that don't know you're a couple._

* * *

"But I'm so glad," commented Ayumi as the group of young detectives, plus Ran, walked back home after a long, long day. "That girl was okay."

"Yeah!" nodded Mitsuhiko, smiling widely as well. "And the kittens were taken care of after all."

"Only one of them, actually. The one that soft-hearted teacher took home," Conan's arms crossed behind his head. "Araide-sensei still needs to find someone to take in the other two."

"Maybe we can convince Dad to let us take in one," Ran giggled softly.

"I highly doubt it, considering he barely stands _me _staying at his home," Conan snickered. "Besides, Eri-obasan has a blue russian. He would rather die than to have something in common with her."

"... Guess you're right," Ran sighed.

The other children laughed a bit at that, but then Ayumi suddenly paused, eyes wide for a second, as something struck her. Everyone looked at her, confused about her weird behavior, until the girl broke into a bright grin.

"Why don't you adopt one, Ai-chan?" at the suggestion, Haibara blinked owlishly. "You love animals, right?"

Mitsuhiko soon mirrored her expression. "That's a wonderful idea!" he beamed. "There's no one better than Haibara-san for this."

Haibara's puzzled face dropped into an emotionless one, Conan couldn't help but notice.

"I'm sure the Professor wouldn't mind," Ran smiled down at the little girl. "Do you want me to ask him?"

"No need," her smile sort of dropped at the cold reply, but Ai paid no mind, just closed her eyes as her hands grasped her bag's straps ─ a bit too tightly, Conan noted. "With all the Professor's inventions lying around, we can't have a cat in there."

The three children visibly deflated at her words, being more than aware that there was no way they would convince their friend otherwise when she had made her mind. Ran, too, felt a bit upset but didn't want to pressure her, so she quickly tried to steer the conversation somewhere else.

Conan simply stared, silently, as he walked beside her.

His phone suddenly started vibrating in his pocket and let out a tired sigh when, expectedly, his brother's name showed on the screen. _I will have to call him back later, _he thought, finger hovering over the red button.

"Answer that," Conan blinked, confused, when Ran's stern voice said from behind ─ her smile was long gone by this point and replaced by a severe expression. "You _need _to answer that call, Conan-kun."

Unsure of what to say, or what to think, Conan slowly pressed the green button instead. "... Yes?" he pressed the phone against his ear, eyes not drifting away from Ran's still stern face.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

This time, he did look away from her, eyes shifting to the side as he focused on his brother's voice. "Eh?"

"That you were almost shot. In the head," Conan's bafflement dimmed when he heard those words. "By a _sniper_."

"... Oh."

"Oh?!"

Slowing down his pace so he could trail behind the group, and sighing in relief because his friends were enthusiastically talking with Ran, so there was no chance of her overhearing his conversation ─ even though he was certain she was the reason he knew about it, anyway.

"But why would they do that?" his brother was rambling at this point. "Did you bring attention to yourself lately? Something that could have given your identity away-?"

"Ah, no. I was not the target. They mistook me with someone else."

That succeeded in making the high schooler's rambling come into a halt. "What?"

"Sherry was the target, they most likely didn't get a good look at me," _definitely, _he added in his mind, considering he was mistaken with a _girl ─ _he honestly hoped he didn't look like one, _that much_. "Haibara-san had been leaving voice messages on her sister's old phone, and mentioned she was going to be there."

"... So you weren't discovered."

"That's pretty much it."

He heard his brother letting a long, heavy sigh. "I swear, if you keep doing this, my heart isn't going to handle it."

"I wanted to save you the trouble," Conan shrugged.

As he talked, he noticed Haibara bidding them goodbye, since her house was the other way. He nodded at her when they exchanged looks, before she turned to leave.

"Doesn't seem like you did a good job there."

"Say," Conan then spoke up. "Is the reason you don't want them to figure out my identity that I'm your younger brother, or that I was deeply involved with Hirota Hana's kidnapping case?"

"... You remember that."

He sounded displeased about that, Conan realized right away.

"Most of it," he confessed, fixing his gaze into the floor. "Admittedly, there are a few things that simply do _not _match, however."

"Huh?"

"Haibara-san's sister was living under the alias of 'Hirota Masami' at the time of her death," his finger went to his chin, stroking it lightly. "I'm surprised nobody linked her with the other time she had used that name, as Hirota Hana's sister."

"Well, you can't exactly link someone just by their last name, when there's virtually nothing else to relate them both."

Conan blinked. "I kind of supposed she was still using 'Masami' as her first name..."

"Ah, no. According to her fake identity, Akemi was born abroad, even if her parents were Japanese," Shinichi commented, as a passing thought. "So she chose something a bit different-"

"What did she choose?!" the older boy was a little confused at his younger brother's reaction. "What name did Akemi-san go by?"

"... B-Beryl," Shinichi stuttered, with some sort of uncertainty. "The name she used is Hirota Beryl."

There was silence, and that caused the high school detective to worry.

"Conan?" he wondered if he said something wrong. "Conan, is something-?"

_Click._

Unaware of what was happening behind them, the group came into a pause. The girl stood in front of them, giving the children a gentle smile. "Well, our house is that way," she informed.

Dragging his feet a bit, Conan slowly came closer, until he just stood there. The light of the last rays of sun were reflecting on his glasses, making it impossible for anyone to see his eyes.

"Head straight home, alright?" the girl smiled at the children.

"Yeah!"

"Well then, Conan-kun. Let's-"

She didn't get to finish that sentence because, all of sudden, without meeting anyone's gaze, the boy simply bolted. Without giving an explanation, without uttering a word.

Just like that.

"Conan-kun!" of course, his friends were worried. "Where are you going?"

The boy didn't even pause to answer, just turned around the corner and disappeared from their sight. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko blinked, completely confused, but Genta frowned, deeply.

"That guy is going off on his own again!" he huffed, obviously annoyed, then stepped ahead, ready to give him the chase.

"Wait."

Of course, none of them expected Ran, of all people, to stop them from coming along so they just stared, shocked beyond words, as the high school student kneeled down in front of them, so she could look at them at eye level.

Her face was serious, but there was something else that they couldn't exactly decipher passing by her eyes. Pleading was their best guess, but they knew that it was something stronger, _deeper._

"I want to have a word with you, if you don't mind."

Regardless, Conan kept on running. Running and running, without stopping, without taking a moment to rest until he reached _that _place. Until he could confirm that his deductions were going in the right direction.

Or, alternatively, that they were wrong.

_At that time, at the front of that note... 'Onee-chan' was written in green. Hana's sister was called Beryl._

_Therefore, green beryl... An emerald._

He was already gasping for air, little legs demanding for him to stop, to have a break. But Conan didn't seem to mind.

_It also said that the food 'does _not _taste good.' Since dahlias, or the letter 'D', stand for 'good taste', if you take that letter out instead..._

_... Then, adding 'E', 'P' and 'H'... Then..._

His feet came into a stop, and the child momentarily stumbled forward. Not minding about the air coming in and out quickly, or the way his legs wanted to give out because of the exertion they were victim of, Conan stared. Simply _stared._

_... Then... _

Something fell on his cheek.

"_Conan-kun," Ran giggled, amused. "You have something on your cheek."_

_Little Conan's bright, innocent eyes finally shifted to the older girl's direction, as she gently plucked something out of his face and, with a bright smile plastered all over her face, offered it to him._

_Blinking he accepted it, and curiously studied the petal on his hand._

"_It's just a cherry blossom petal, Conan," snickered his brother from under him, as he carried him back home. "You have seen them before, why are you that surprised?"_

"_I was wondering," he replied, mesmerized for some reason with it. "Why do these keep falling?"_

"_Because cherry blossoms don't last that long," explained Ran, patiently. "They are beautiful, but only stay that way for a few weeks."_

"_And why do people love these so much, if these flowers falter so quickly?"_

"_Not only are they pretty, but these trees are pretty symbolic," Shinichi commented, with a broad smile, as he continued to walk. "That's why people in Japan are in love with them."_

"_Symbolic? Say, say, what do they mean?"_

_His brother's grin widened, if possible._

"_Actually, they are a metaphor for..."_

"... the ephemeral nature of life."

Closing his hand around the pink petal that rested on top of his palm, Conan finally looked up. His gaze fell on the several trees that stood on both sides of the road he stood in, dimly remembering that they had been there many months before, when Ayumi had chasen after a kitten back in February.

But now it was April, so it was naturally different. Instead of the dull, almost dead, scenery from before, a colourful sight, full of life, met his eyes.

Before he knew it, his feet were moving again.

_"I think I know where she is, Sensei!"_

There it was, right in front of his eyes. Some bushes were covering it from plain sight, but it was _there_. A hole was hidden between the foliage, small enough for a child to fit in, that actually gave access to the abandoned house he stood in front of.

He had seen it before. _Haibara_ had found it before.

No wonder she did.

_"Close to the cherry blossom trees?" Conan's teacher blinked at him, confused. "Is that where Hana-chan is?"_

_"Shh!" the child held a finger to his lips, because of the man's loud voice. "You can't tell anyone, alright?"_

_"Why is that?"_

Realization dawned on him like a bucket of cold water, actually causing the young child to shiver. Hugging himself, he leaned his head against a nearby tree, eyes wide with shock.

_"Hana-chan is definitely hiding! She must have suspected that someone wanted to do something bad to her," his eyes fell on his notes, which were nothing but a bunch of scribbles on his notebook. "I haven't figured the second part of this code, the part written in black, but I believe that here must be the culprit's name!"_

_The eyes of that teacher narrowed, for some reason._

"_I... I believe the culprit is among us," he then confessed, with a frown. "Until then... Until I figure out who is behind all this... I..."_

"_Got it," the little child's head snapped back up to see his teacher's grin. "I won't say a thing, I promise."_

_Conan's face-splitting smile didn't take long to appear._

"_Just continue doing what you're doing, okay? I need to call a friend about a little something."_

His grasp on his arms only tightened, eyes unable to look anywhere else but the cherry blossom petals dancing all around him. As things were now, he couldn't really appreciate this beauty that would be stunning otherwise.

Because, just then, he realized it.

The one who revealed Haibara Ai's hiding spot to the people that were looking for her, unknowingly sentencing her to such a horrible way of life.

The one who frustrated Miyano Akemi's efforts to have a normal life alongside her younger sister, unknowingly leading her to her own death years later.

... The one who caused Kudo Shinichi to get involved with the dreadful Black Organization, unknowingly destroying his life as an ordinary high school student.

That one person... was _him._

So, for the longest time, Kudo Conan didn't move. Just stood there, on that spot, letting his arms fall limply at his sides, and his head to drop, letting the light hit his focals again, hiding from plain view how he was truly feeling inside.

Little did he know that a young girl stood there as well, watching with an unreadable look as the boy slided down until he was sitting right beside that cherry blossom tree, hiding his face against his knees.

The girl just took on his form, and solemnly lowered her head, before turning around.

Nothing she could say right now would be of any help at the moment.

* * *

A/N:

Dy: I haven't really thought about it, if I'm being honest. It might happen sometime, but I'm not completely sure about it.


	60. The Unluckiest Boy

**File Sixty: The Unluckiest Boy**

"This is weird..."

"_You _are acting weird, Ayumi-chan."

"But I was _so _certain..."

"Would you _please _take your hand out of my forehead?"

"Oh, sure."

The boy's blank expression did not change, even when the girl retired her hand. "Thanks," he mumbled, unblinking, before he continued to walk.

The three children just stared at him, for a few moments, blinking confusedly at each other, while Haibara simply stood there, watching him go.

"He isn't sick," Ayumi pointed out, her face scrunching with a frown.

"But he _has _been acting oddly all day long," Mitsuhiko added. "And he looks so down, too..."

"Do you think he's turning into Haibara?" Genta looked genuinely concerned.

"Is that a reason to be worried?" Haibara deadpanned.

"A-Ah, no..."

Not giving him another glance, the young scientist passed by them and began to walk alongside the detective, silently, they could see.

Letting out a collective sigh, they started to move as well, keeping their distance from the other two.

"Should we tell him?" Mitsuhiko wondered out loud. "About what Ran-san asked us yesterday."

"_I want to have a word with you, if you don't mind," _all of them clearly remembered the worry in Ran's eyes the other time.

"_What is it, Ran-oneesan?"_

"_It's about Conan-kun," she paused for a moment, the frown on her face replaced by a kind smile the next. "You all remember the other time at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers, don't you?"_

_Hesitantly, the three children nodded._

"_Conan-kun heard about an unusual car he really wanted to see and ran off to check on it, right?"_

"_Yeah," Genta nodded. "He did that."_

"_Is there anything else about it?"_

"_Huh?"_

_Her smile tightened, and her eyes narrowed slightly, while she inched closer to the group._

"_You were acting... differently when that happened. I would say you were worried," the three flinched, at the same time. "Why was that?"_

They had managed to get away from her questions by playing dumb, but they all knew that Ran wouldn't give up there. It was a matter of time.

"Why wouldn't we?" Genta blinked, confused. "It's not like we told her anything."

The boy trailed off, however, when Ayumi shook her head. He waited for her to say something, as she gazed at Conan, who quietly walked alongside their other friend. "Conan-kun is stressed out," the girl observed, with a frown. "If we told him that Ran-oneesan is suspicious... I don't know how he's going to handle it."

The other two simply stared at the girl, before giving a jerky nod, realizing the truth behind her words. Genta shook it off right away, grinning widely as he wondered, outloud, about what he was going to have for dinner, while Ayumi lightly scolded him for thinking about food right away.

Mitsuhiko, however...

"_If you know something, please tell me, okay?" Ran stood up, her smile still on place, even if all of them could see she wasn't entirely convinced. "That boy can be quite stubborn when it comes with it, so he is probably not going to tell me anything if he's in trouble." _

His lips pressed together, thinking about the many, _many _instances when Conan had met with those scary people behind his back. Each and every single time he would reluctantly tell them about that, shrugging those dangerous moments as if it was not a big deal, Mitsuhiko would shiver. Then, he would feel bad for not knowing, for being unable to help.

But then, he would remind himself that he was only a child. There wasn't much he could do, unlike adults.

_Then again, Conan-kun is also a child, _his hands curled, tightly, around the straps of his bag.

All of sudden, the two children stopped walking, and the trio immediately realized that was where they had to depart ways from the other two. Haibara raised her hand, waving them goodbye with a small smile, which they reciprocated.

Conan barely nodded, his eyes meeting theirs, yet not connecting, somehow. Mitsuhiko noted they were gazing at something else, far, far away.

_... Did we really do the right thing?_

Haibara didn't say anything else the rest of the way home. Besides a knowing glance then and there, the young scientist kept her mouth shut, an action that the boy was incredibly grateful for, even if he didn't let it show.

Even as they separated. All she did was to say a quick "See you," before heading home, yet he barely heard it, far too immersed in his own mind to pay attention to anything else.

"_Was it..." _Conan frowned at the memory. "_Was it my fault that you got involved with them?"_

He could still see it, clearly as day. The initial hesitation after his question was asked, his lips gradually stretching into an incredibly big, yet tense smile, his loud and stained laugh.

"_You're talking nonsense, Conan," _and the reply that followed.

_As I suspected_, a humorless laugh bubbled up from him, as he slowly made his way up the stairs of the agency. _Even then, you were lying to me. Like you always do._

_Yet, this time around, I can't bring myself to be mad at you, _he paused, silently standing right in front of the door. _I would be a hypocrite if I did, wouldn't I?_

His hand rested over the door handle. _What a mess, _he sighed, wrapping his fingers around it.

He didn't expect, however, the door opening on its own. Yelping in surprise, the boy stumbled inside for a few seconds until he managed to recover his footing.

"Ah, Conan-kun, right?"

Blinking confusedly, he looked up to see a face he honestly didn't expect to see there. "Hakuba-san?" he asked, not understanding a thing, only to receive a polite nod in return. "What are you doing here?"

"That brat keeps pestering me about some case I've worked on," Kogoro growled from his desk. "He doesn't seem to understand what 'case closed' means, apparently."

"Case?" he genuinely wondered. If it was recent, _he_ had probably solved it instead of Kogoro. "Which one?"

"The Nishitamashi Twin Tower Buildings' terrorist attack."

Conan wished he hadn't asked.

"Actually, you could probably help me," Hakuba added. "I saw you were there, on TV. That move of yours was pretty reckless, I would say."

There was no wonder that he had been seen passing from one building to the other in a mere skateboard.

"H-How should I know?" Conan hoped his innocent smile was enough to cover for the slight shaking of his voice. "I'm not a detective like Kogoro-ojisan and you."

Hakuba didn't say something for a moment, just seemed to study him with his piercing gaze, before closing his eyes. And smirking.

"The Seventh Detective."

Conan frowned at that, which only caused Hakuba to snicker and Kogoro to blink, stupidly.

But the child recovered right away. "It was fun to pretend to be one," his bright, albeit fake, grin didn't take long to appear. "Now I know why you like being one. It's _so_ cool!"

"I can imagine."

Not understanding a thing of what was going on in front of him, but noticing that the little boy was strangely uncomfortable, Kogoro decided to stand up. "You were about to leave, weren't you?" he gave the teenage detective a pointed look. "I'm expecting some guests."

"Ah, that's too bad," he said, before turning to the kid. "Maybe we should save this talk for later."

_Or maybe not._

Thankfully the teenager left right after that, and Conan tried not to look so relieved. _Ran-neechan is suspicious and now this guy, _he closed the door behind him. _What's next, Occhan suspecting me?_

He could have snorted at the thought, if the man wasn't in the same room.

"What are you doing here, brat?" the person in question scowled, eyes fixing in his old TV. "You're early."

"What's so weird about that?" with a huff, he crossed the room. "My school day is over, so I went straight home, as I'm supposed to."

"You _never _come straight home," Kogoro lazily cradled his head against his hand. "Even when you're told so."

Conan rolled his eyes. _Like I can help it, _he though, sarcastically, thinking about the many times when his murder magnetism had acted up, or his friends had simply dragged him along to another crazy adventure. _How did this become my life?_

"Nevermind," the man stood up, straightening his jacket. "Run along, go to read or find something else to do."

To say that the child was confused was an understatement ─ he hadn't realized until now, but the man was well dressed, well groomed, for once in his entire life. "Do we _really _have guests today?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Ran invited a friend over."

That didn't clear things at all. "Sonoko-neechan?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not, it's a new student," he scoffed. "We discussed it last night when you went to sleep."

Wisely, the boy decided not to comment on that. Last night he had been so exhausted ─ in every sense of the word ─ that he had gone off to bed awfully early, not uttering any word besides stating that he wasn't hungry. Both Ran _and Kogoro _had repeatedly asked what was wrong, but he hadn't been able to grace them with a proper answer.

It wasn't something he could openly talk to them about.

Right then, they heard the sounds of steps, climbing up the stairs. "Damn, they're coming," he rushed to the couch, grabbing a book from his office in his way. "You better behave, brat."

"... Okay?"

So he just stood there, staring blankly at the man, who sat cross-legged with a random Agatha Christie's book ─ _had he even read it, anyway? ─ _and a serious, professional look on his face. It remained like that, even as the door opened slowly.

"Welcome home, Ran. You're early," he greeted, with a deep voice. "Sorry for asking just as you come in, but could you make me some coffee?"

Taking a second longer to stare at the man, the child turned to look at the doorway, just to notice that Ran was standing there, next to Sonoko, who was giving him a weirded out look.

"My little gray cells cannot function correctly unless it's your coffee."

"... Why are you quoting Hercule Poirot to Sonoko-neechan?"

At the plain voice at his side, Kogoro finally looked up and, upon noticing who had just gotten home, he threw his book over his shoulder. "What's this?" he complained. "What's Miss Horse Carriage doing here?"

"Ah, good one," the child crossed his arms behind his head.

"... Huh?" Sonoko was confused at first, but then an outraged expression took place. "... Wait a second, you two-!"

"The classmate I told you about is coming over," Ran spoke over her, forcing a smile.

Conan honestly had no idea of why this random high school student wanted to meet Kogoro, but he couldn't genuinely bring himself to care much. _Probably a fan, _he shrugged, making his way to the empty spot on Kogoro's couch and dropping his bag there. _Shouldn't that person be my fan instead?_

_... On a second thought, I'm glad Occhan is taking my place._

Experience told him that fans were a pain, frankly speaking. Shinichi seemed to enjoy having them, his father didn't mind... Conan, however, didn't think he would be able to handle them just as well as those two.

"But really," Sonoko commented, doing the same thing as the kid, while Kogoro went to sit again at his desk. "Are you worried about impressing a high school guy?"

"Eh? A guy...? A guy?!" he blinked. "Huh? Wasn't it a girl who looked like that announcer Mizunashi Rena?"

That was the moment Conan _did _actually start to care. _Mizunashi Rena?! _his blood became cold in his veins. _That member with the codename Kir?!_

As the rest of the people in the room discussed the misunderstanding, Conan frantically looked around. That guy, who was supposed to resemble Kir, was going to get here in any second now. _What if they are related?_

He could hear the sounds of steps, going up the stairs. _Is there a way to lock the door or something?_ Conan wondered, inching closer to the door.

As expected, it opened.

Instantly after, Conan felt himself falling and landing, painfully, on the floor. _What the...?_

"E-Excuse me..." the person said, immediately sitting up and letting the poor child _breathe. _"I must have tripped on something."

Groaning, the boy sat up as well. _There is absolutely nothing to trip on, _he gave the unknown boy a dirty look, watching as he started to feel the ground. _Did he lose his glasses or something?_

Certainly, a few feet ahead of him, lied a pair of glasses but, before he could even think about grasp them and offer it in a sympathetic gesture for his bespectacled fellow, something stopped him.

That something being a hand pinching his cheek.

The teen immediately straightened and rubbed the back of his head. "It's great to meet you, Detective Mouri!" he exclaimed. "It's such an honor."

Conan stared for a moment.

"... Excuse me?"

Ran laughed nervously from behind him. "Umm," she offered a smile. "That's actually Conan-kun, who lives with us..."

She trailed off when both his hands pressed against Conan's cheeks, before they pinched, and _stretched. _Yelping, the boy desperately tried to get away from his grasp, but no avail. The boy just got closer, eyes squinting so much that they looked as if they were closed.

By some sort of miracle, the kid reached for the fallen glasses and managed to get them. The teenager finally released him upon feeling them pressing, rather roughly, against his face.

_Geez, _he rubbed his eyes, that had teared up due to the pain. _And Haibara-san says I'm the blind one..._

"A-Ah," his eyes went wide, once he put on his glasses. "I'm sorry!"

_You better be, _Conan rolled his eyes, feeling pretty offended by being mistaken with _Kogoro, _of all people.

_Onii-chan, Haibara-san and Occhan... What's wrong with people, confusing me with every single living, breathing being...?_

Finally, the teenage boy was presented with the _real _Mouri Kogoro. "It's nice to meet you, Detective Mouri!" he beamed. "I'm Hondou Eisuke."

Standing up from his seat, Kogoro smiled at him.

"It's an honor to meet-!"

Eisuke went to bow to the detective, but he bent a bit too much. Pain didn't take long to make an appearance once more, causing an unexpecting Conan to hiss, stumbling forward while holding his sore head. _I swear this guy is doing this on purpose, _he glared at Eisuke from a safe distance away from him.

He tried not to flinch when Eisuke stepped backwards, groaning before his back slammed against a closet, tripping on air before a box fell on his head. Now he knew, he _wasn't _doing it on purpose.

Which was amazing nonetheless, on another whole level.

"He's just a little clumsy," Ran told his father, who was simply raising an eyebrow at Eisuke.

'_A little'?_

"I'm not clumsy, I just have no luck!" Eisuke argued. "When I drop my toast, the buttered side hits the ground one-hundred percent of the time. When camping, I'm the first to get attacked by bugs. When everyone takes a picture, my eyes are always closed. I think God hates me!"

Conan stared at the boy, with a very blank look, before shrugging.

_When bodies start to drop all around you wherever you go, then we can talk about this 'being hated by God' nonsense..._

"That's why I've come to you, Detective Mouri. I want to borrow a little bit of your luck!"

"Luck?" Kogoro looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Because, wherever you go, a case suddenly appears. And then, you have the chance to make a wonderful, breath-taking deduction. So lucky!"

_... What's wrong with this guy? Seriously._

"Besides, you weren't such a good detective, but suddenly you became one of the best. Maybe God came to you all of sudden one day."

_Hey, I'm actually flattered._

He felt Ran's nervous gaze on him for a moment, before she let out a laugh.

"God has nothing to do with this," she tried, pointedly ignoring the fact that her father looked annoyed by this boy's words. "Dad simply made a huge effort to be more observant because he wasn't getting many cases. Right, Dad?"

"Uh, yeah," he nodded, hesitantly.

"Anyway!" Eisuke insisted. "Show me your famous deduction show, please!"

"B-But..."

Conan gave the boy another blank look, before sighing. _I'm not really in the mood for this, _he realized, turning to face the door. _Maybe I should go read something..._

But before he could even reach the door, which had been left open since Eisuke had entered, someone walked in, holding his hand up as if he had been about to knock but was surprised to see Conan there.

"Umm," he said, gathering everyone's attention. "Excuse me. This is the Mouri Detective Agency, right?"

"It says so in the big sign outside," pointed out the child, unblinking.

Ran looked like she was about to reprimand him, but Eisuke interrupted her by rushing towards the man ─ running into Sonoko, who screamed because he had somehow slammed his hand on her chest in the way.

"Could it be a case?!" he beamed, standing right next to the child and in front of the client.

"Y-Yeah."

"Mouri-san, it's a case!" he was beyond delighted. "Alright-!"

Of course, the teen bowed in excitement. Of course, he accidentally headbutted an unsuspecting Conan, who cried in pain.

_Really, _he groaned, holding his head while wincing ─ he wouldn't be surprised if he got a concussion or something. _The unlucky one is me, definitely._

There was a loud sound which caused him to look up, only to see Eisuke on the floor, after probably having tripped in Kogoro's box of wine bottles, buried in several papers that he had knocked off from who-knows-where.

_... Though it would be a tough competition._

* * *

The more time he spent with Ran's new classmate, the less Conan wanted to deal with him anymore.

Not only had Hondou Eisuke become a safety hazard, specially to him ─ Conan ignored the motive of why this was that way, but guessed that it had to do with his _own _bad luck conflicting with his ─ but he had the nerve to call _him _stupid.

It had happened because of the client, Misumi Atsushi, who had claimed that he had argued with his girlfriend, Ami, and she had left, right after he had said something along the lines of '_I can't go back to being how I was when we met!'_

Well, the guy apparently wanted her to come back as soon as possible because she had taken the car with her, where he had left some important documents, which said a lot about how he was.

So, in an attempt to get them to figure it out, Conan had suggested that they should go where 'they used to play backgammon' ─ _because you can't go back when playing it!_ ─ thus, getting Eisuke to sat that he, a eight year-old child that was probably much more intelligent than him, was stupid, because he had meant when they first met.

Well, at least it had gotten them to realize they had to look there.

On the downside, she had been dead by the time they arrived, inside a car with its doors sealed with tape, and a cooking pot beside her. So, Atsushi had grabbed a baseball bat from the trunk of the car and shattered the _front _window, before taking a knife and cutting through the tape of the passenger door, but it had been far too late for her.

And his bad luck had only seemed to grow stronger. Not only because Kogoro had decided, again, that this was suicide, but because they were in _Gunma._

Which meant that Inspector Yamamura was on the case.

_I knew this was coming, _at some point, Conan thought, massaging his temples. _A headache is coming in._

He really, _really _didn't want to deal with this today.

More to the reason, he needed to solve this case as soon as possible. The culprit was definitely her boyfriend, but he couldn't still figure out how he could have gotten out of the car, and left it sealed.

There was yet another loud thud beside him, followed by a groan, that prompted him to look away from the car and to the source. Unsurprisingly, Eisuke was there on the floor, and Ran was nervously hovering around him.

"Are you okay, Eisuke-kun?"

"Ah, yeah, I tripped on something," he let out an awkward laugh.

"Hey, your finger is bleeding!"

"Oh," he took a glance at the little wound in question. "It's probably from a shard that came from the front glass."

Conan did not say anything, just rolled his eyes and was about to walk away when Ran suddenly looked for something in her pocket, probably a bandage. "Hold out your finger," then she said, causing the boy to blink, surprised.

Hesitantly, he did, and Conan noticed that Eisuke was blushing a bit.

_... No way... Really?_

Ignorant of what was going through both boys' minds, she finally took a bandage out.

"Maybe you should let him do it himself, Ran-neechan," commented the child, blinking innocent eyes at both of them, who paused at his words. "He's old enough, and he might be too embarrassed if you do it instead."

"A-Ah, no," Eisuke tried. "I don't mind-"

"He _does _mind," Conan gave him a pointed, almost dangerous, look. "By a _whole lot,_" and it was gone when he smiled, brightly. "Right, _Eisuke-niichan?_"

"R-Right."

Almost hesitantly, Eisuke accepted the bandage from Ran, who simply blinked in confusion at the child. He seemed to glare at the boy for some reason.

_As if I'm allowing this idiot to take advantage of Ran-neechan's kindness, _he let out a sigh, focusing back on the scene for the crime that was getting more and more confusing as time went by. _Araide-sensei is cool, even Onii-chan is half decent... But this guy?_

"But bandages are amazing, aren't they?" commented Eisuke, as he bandaged his finger. "Because my finger healed as soon as I put it on. Look, it's like there was no wound to begin with."

"Are you stupid?" Conan rolled his eyes ─ maybe he was still a bit salty when he called him that, but he didn't care enough. "Bandages do not make cuts to seal. They just hide the cut..." the boy trailed off, as his eyes gradually opened. "... from plain sight..."

Both teens stared at the boy, who had seemed to freeze in place all of sudden, before he took off running, then watched as he tugged Kogoro's sleeve to gather his attention, for some reason.

In a matter of time, the case was solved.

* * *

Listening as Yamamura complained about not being able to capture Mouri Kogoro's wonderful deduction on his camera only made Conan want to get to Tokyo faster, but as it was, he was stuck in between Eisuke and Kogoro, sitting on Ran's lap, as the patrol car took them back home ─ not that they had any other choice, considering that it was late already and that their driver was currently being taken into custody.

"But this case was solved thanks to Eisuke-kun," at some point, the girl commented, causing the boy in question to blink. "Because you mentioned the bandage, Conan-kun thought there was a problem with the car door's permanent tape," she turned to the child sitting on her legs. "And then you told Dad about it, right?"

Conan could only nod.

"He took your job," Ran smiled at him.

"Job?" Eisuke was confused.

Ran hesitated for less than a second, which Conan noticed but didn't comment on it. "It's always his job," then she added with a smile. "When he thinks he said something irrelevant, it coincidentally becomes a key to solving the case."

It took a moment more than strictly necessary for his words to ring through, but when they did, his eyes instantly fell on the new student in question, whose gaze had adopted an exceptical glint.

_Could it be...?_

"This kid, huh?" Eisuke's face inched closer, as he studied him.

Conan simply held on his stare with a glare, as he moved even more closer while inspecting him. Then, the hard look disappeared when the kid raised his hand all of sudden, a very blank expression taking hold of his features.

Before he flicked at him. "Too close," muttered the boy.

And the stoic look remained, even when the teenage boy jerked backwards with a cry of pain, only to hit the back of his head with the window behind him. Even as Kogoro shrugged and Ran scolded him for being unnecessarily rude.

He just stared as Eisuke cradled his sore head, wincing in pain.

_There's simply no way._

Little did he know, that view he had in that clumsy, unlucky high school student was going to change, drastically, the next day.

That Saturday arrived soon enough, and Conan woke up feeling not refreshed in the slightless. If anything, he felt even more drained than the day before, but he wasn't that surprised considering that he hadn't had that much of a good night.

Dreams could be terrifying sometimes, the boy was well aware of that, since he wasn't exactly a stranger to nightmares. _I hadn't had one in a long time, huh? _he let out a humorless, dry laugh, as he sat up in his futon. _Not since I have cleared things up with Onii-chan._

He definitely did not miss them, he decided, as he stood up, dimly realizing that Kogoro wasn't in bed ─ which was unusual, considering he would be _always _snoring by the time he got up. _I wonder if Ran-neechan or Occhan noticed something..._

One look at his phone made him realize that they most likely did ─ _11 PM,_ they wouldn't have let him sleep until _that _late unless they had noticed he hadn't slept well.

With a sigh, he began to dress up. Hopefully, none of them would bring this up.

Luckily for him, Kogoro barely looked up when he stepped into his office before focusing back on the phone he held against his ear. Conan could hear the woman on the other side, and could tell she sounded _angry_.

Well, he couldn't care enough. Without any further thought, he plopped down on the couch and began to flip the pages of the manga book he had carried with him.

"I'm home," he heard Ran say and a quick glance towards her told the child that she had probably gone to the market ─ the plastic bags held on her hands were proof of it.

Not giving any other thought, the child went back to his book, absently listening to the conversation they were having ─ once the woman on the other side of the phone had hung up on Kogoro. There was something about Kogoro tasting the coffee Ran had prepared, and her admitting she had only bought it because she had wanted to win a cute coffee pot.

He had complained, and Ran had gotten mad.

There was a yelp, but it did _not _belong to any of them.

Looking up, Conan was shocked to see Hondou Eisuke there, trying to wipe the hot coffee Ran had accidentally thrown at him on his hair. Kogoro seemed to be as stunned as he was, but his daughter instantly explained they had met at the market and had decided to help the detective ─ somehow.

_I-I didn't even notice him, _the child blinked, dumbfounded, watching the teenager answer a call from a client, only to end up hanging up on them by complete accident. _For someone that falls face-first upon entering a door, he can be rather silent._

_... That doesn't make any sense._

Then again, nothing made sense lately. With a shrug, the child went back to his manga.

"Oh," it wasn't until a few hours later ─ after lunch, of course ─ that the kid had looked up. "This manga's taking a break next week. Man, I want to know what happens next!"

"It's for the author to collect information," he said to Ran. "It can't be helped."

"But this could require investigation as well, right?" Eisuke ─ who was _still _there ─ pointed out. "See, the only reason they ever give is that the author is collecting information. He could have just quit because he didn't like the work, or he could have caught the flu and is now unable to continue it. Or maybe he was kidnapped and is being held somewhere?"

Conan simply gave him a plain look. _Now, how did all that escalate to that point?_

"It's like that famous actor who disappeared half a year ago when they said he was taking a break, but he was actually sick. There was something recently, too... That person was one minute and gone the next! The name was... Let's see..."

The child's eyes widened, and didn't leave the boy even when Ran inquired if he meant Itaragi Roku, the famous singer that had suddenly taken a break after debuting last year, and him nodding with a nervous laugh. Or the little child that suddenly busted inside, claiming that the same singer was dead, and that he had seen someone dumping his body to the ocean.

He had to look away, though, in order to pay attention to the case in hand, but he couldn't help the feeling of dread cursing through his veins, as he wondered what this guy was _really _up to.

And it only got more prominent, the moment Eisuke kneeled down next to the kid, with an unusually serious expression and gingerly touched his neck. They stared for a long, long while, until the teenager finally smiled.

"Takumi-kun, it's true, right?"

"Yeah."

"You aren't... really lying, are you?"

"It's not a lie. I'm really not lying!"

Conan could only watch, stunned, as his eyes narrowed slightly and, all of sudden, he wouldn't see Eisuke and the child anymore, but rather Mizunashi Rena and himself in its place.

_Hondou Eisuke... Who are you, really?_

* * *

"_I was just doing what my father did when I was a child." _Eisuke had said when Ran had complimented his ability to tell the kid was not lying. "_I just got lucky this time."_

Still, Conan was highly suspicious, knowing that there was absolutely no way that was luck ─ Kir _had _used that technique on him. That, the way he looked, the way he _acted... _They all screamed Mizunashi Rena, loudly.

So he had kept his eye on him the entire trip on the car ─ they had decided that the kid would remember something else if they took him to the bridge he had seen the culprit disposing of the victim's body.

He had also noticed Ran giving him worried glances every once and then. He supposed he had been a bit too quiet.

Not that he could pay attention to anything with Hondou Eisuke around.

_What if he is involved with the Organization? _he frowned, watching him leaning against the bridge, at some point during the investigation. _He has gotten too close. To Ran-neechan, to Occhan..._

_What should I do? If he's with them... If he realizes we're this close to the traitor Singani... I..._

Something made his mind come to a halt, however, and his eyes open widely with shock.

Crystal tears were rolling down Eisuke's cheeks.

Now, more than ever, Conan did not know what to do, besides stare, in silence, the boy that was quietly suffering, for reasons he couldn't fully comprehend.

Even if, the tiniest, illogical part of him told him otherwise.

The culprit had been apprehended to long thereafter. Long story short, the culprit had been jealous that the victim had left the band for his solo debut, as he had confessed. He had planned to bury him in the mountains, but ended up dumping him there to avoid checkpoints at the end of the bridge.

So, after finishing telling their story to the police, all four of them headed back home.

Despite how he had looked before at the bridge, Eisuke was cheerfully talking to Kogoro now from his place in the passenger seat. This awfully bright behavior, however, made Conan feel even more wary of him, noticing that he was probably acting.

It made him wonder, actually, which of Hondou Eisuke's many faces was the real one.

"There must be more, right?" Eisuke insisted. "More cases with famous people. Or at least cases about them right?"

_He keeps insisting and insisting..._

"Of course," Kogoro replied with a smug smile. "A few for Okino Yoko-chan."

"Eh?! For that top idol?! You're a really great detective!"

_I'm the great detective, actually._

"I bet there've been cases with famous people that didn't go public," the kid noticed that there was something, slight and almost imperceptible, that passed by Eisuke's eyes. "You know, like if a famous person asked you to do it in secret..." Kogoro's eyes flickered from him to the road again, his surprised expression replaced by a serious one. "... and before it made the news, you solved it."

"Has there been a case like that?"

Conan was grateful Kogoro couldn't remember that case.

"Don't be embarrassed to tell me, Detective Mouri!" he continued, not letting any kind of disappointment show. "Hey, why don't we talk about it over dinner?"

He was _not _having that, so he let out a loud yawn, which obviously gathered Ran's attention.

"Ah, sorry," Conan smiled, while rubbing his right eye. "I'm feeling pretty sleepy all of sudden..."

Of course, Ran's hand was already on top of his head. "Sorry Eisuke-kun, we'll have to do it some other time," she apologized to him. "Conan-kun's tired it seems."

"I see," replied the teen right away.

Despite it all, Conan could clearly see the moment Eisuke's gaze narrowed upon meeting his, which he held with quiet defiance.

Until he knew what Eisuke was up to, there was no way he was giving up any kind of information regarding Mizunashi Rena.

Soon, however, the teen gave up and focused back to the road, with nothing else but a disappointed sigh. Conan, on the other hand, never let his eyes stray away from the back of his head the entire way, until Kogoro let him off in front of his apartment ─ he had been reluctant to take him home and had said that he could just walk from the agency, but Ran had insisted.

_I can't let my guard down around him. Not when everyone's lives are in stake._

The pressure was gone as soon as he disappeared from his sight, he realized while letting his shoulders drop.

_This madness has to end... _his head leaned against the window. _This fear, this constant danger..._

_... This mess I got everyone involved in..._

"Conan-kun?"

At the sound of the girl's voice, Conan instantly sat up straight, turning his head so to meet Ran's gentle, worried gaze. This caused him to pull his best, bright smile.

"What is it?" he asked, blinking as he didn't understand what she wanted.

It had become easier to lie, to put on a mask and pretend everything was okay, that nothing was wrong. The realization didn't bring him any comfort, and made him shudder.

_That isn't how it used to be._

But it looked like Ran couldn't be tricked this time, because the furrowing of her eyebrows was her only reaction to his words. For a moment, she didn't say anything, and Conan waited patiently.

Even if, internally, he dreaded what she would say next.

"Look, I won't _ask _you what's going on, because you aren't going to tell me anything but..." she paused, as she thought over her words. "Will you tell me one thing, Conan-kun? One single, simple thing."

Conan worried. "What?" his heart was pounding heavily in anticipation, his mind already running, searching desperately for a way out of whichever situation she was going to put him in.

"Are you okay?"

That outcome wasn't anything he had expected.

For less than a moment, Conan just sat there, silently still, shock filling each and every part of his body. And Ran simply watched as that mask, for a less than a second, dropped to let her _see._

Letting her see a child, a young boy. Lost, confused, _hurting._ Who didn't know what he was supposed to do.

But all those bare emotions disappeared instantly, and the sickly sweet smile made an appearance again.

"I'm fine, don't worry, Ran-neechan," he tried to reassure her. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

His wide, blue eyes just stared at her, as she let out a rueful smile. Silently, her arm went around him and, gently, pulled him to her. He didn't offer any resistance, just went along with the movement.

He _was _tired it seemed, Conan realized, while he felt all exhaustion he had gathered from that day, and the day before, crashing up on him. Without protesting, he let his head rest against Ran's shoulder.

"I'm fine," he repeated, softer this time. Ran's hand squeezed against his arm. "I'm... really fine."

Even though he was tired. Tired of lying, tired of feeling fear, tired of feeling guilty._.._

Tired of living like _this._

His eyes closed, and his body pressed against the girl even more as if seeking comfort.

"... I'm perfectly fine..."

* * *

A/N:

Now, I wanted to mention something. Some mysteries that haven't been solved yet (such as Rum's identity or some stuff related to the Boss) will most definitely be different from canon when they get revealed. So, it probably will end up making no sense if you compare it with the original source in the future XD

Dy: I'm most likely going to make an ending of my own, even if somehow the manga ends before I finish this. I figured it's better this way than to wait for the canonical ending.

XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: It said 'ephemeral', which referred to the place where Haibara was hiding. Conan accidentally told the wrong people and she ended up being captured. That was part of the message, anyway, he hasn't figured out the rest.

Taziri cherry: That's from the Holmes Freak Murder Case (chapters 177 to 121 from the manga) if I'm not mistaken.


	61. The Young Representative from the East

**File Sixty-One: The Young Representative from the East**

"Did you watch that last episode?"

"It was incredible... I even had goosebumps, I swear."

"But that cliffhanger... Argh! I _really _know what happens next!"

"What do you think of it... Conan-kun?" the little girl trailed off. "Conan-kun, are you listening?"

Upon realizing someone was talking to him, Conan's head snapped instantly to the source of the sound of Ayumi calling his name, only to meet with her big, concerned eyes. "Ah, sorry," he said right away, with a smile that he _hoped _it was convincing enough. "I kind of spaced out for a moment."

Ayumi looked as if she was about to say something else, but Genta interrupted her.

"So, did you watch it?" he was exasperated, however, when confusion pinched his friend's face. "Kamen Yaiba's latest episode, of course!"

"I didn't have the time," Conan sounded almost apologizing. "I'm going to watch it tonight, so don't you dare to spoil it, alright?"

Grumbling something under his breath, Genta crossed his arms behind his head before he turned to talk with Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi joined the conversation not long thereafter.

"To think that a Holmes' fanboy is also a big fan of Kamen Yaiba," Haibara's voice resounded from his other side. "Arthur Conan Doyle must be rolling in his grave."

"_Sir _Arthur Conan Doyle, you mean."

Ai's eyebrow rose at that.

"Those guys basically forced me to," he shrugged. "Sure, it's not what I would call 'mind-challenging', but it's surprisingly entertaining," then a smirk crossed his features. "I can tell them we should get you introduced, if you want."

"They tried, trust me," she rolled her eyes. "It's not my style, however."

"Suit yourself."

They fell into a comfortable silence, only broken by their friends' cheerful chatter as they discussed something about Gomera's latest movie Conan did not pay attention to.

"I wish we could live like this, forever. To forget everything that had happened," suddenly, Haibara said, causing Conan to stare at her, confusion evident in his eyes. "If I suddenly lost my memory or something... I wouldn't remember my sister's death, or being forced to work for the Organization."

Her eyes travelled to the sky, hands latching behind her back, while Conan simply listened, quietly.

"If I could forget I once was Sherry... I would just become a regular elementary school student, Haibara Ai, I wonder how good it would be... To be with everyone," her distant blue eyes fixed on him. "And I could be with you forever, forever just like this..."

Conan's eyes went wide.

"Haibara-san..."

All of sudden, the girl started giggling. "You're so easy to tease, Kudo-kun," she stated. "I'm just joking."

"... No, you're not."

That caused the small scientist to blink, confused, her wide eyes fixed in Conan's radiant, reassuring smile, for some reason she couldn't hope to understand.

"But there's nothing to worry about, however," he reassured her. "Soon... Everything will be over soon. Then, you, me, everyone will... Will be free to live the way we want."

Shock was written all over her usually stoic face, while staring at the boy in front of her as if he was absolutely insane ─ which, admittedly, _could _actually be true ─ before her features softened.

Little by little, Conan could see a genuine smile drawing itself.

"I'll be looking forward to it, that future you dream of," her eyes, for the first time since he had met her, were bright, full of hope. "Ku-"

And it was gone. The light, the happiness in her gaze vanished the next second, and was replaced by a glassy, dull look as she stared ahead, unseeing.

Conan just stood there, in horror, watching as the girl suddenly dropped into the sidewalk, like a ragdoll. Blood was pouring from her temples, dripping into the floor and staining everything.

Haibara Ai was undoubtedly dead.

The boy could only stare, frozen in place.

"Kudo Conan-kun, right?"

That voice made his hair stand into an end but before he could even react to turn around, he heard a set of _loud _noises that prompted his blood to run cold.

Red, that was all he saw. Staining everything, surrounding his fallen friends that had suffered the same destiny the girl beside him had, but he couldn't do anything besides stand there, studying his friends' pale, ghostly faces and lifeless eyes.

For some reason he didn't even question, Heiji, Ran and Kogoro were also there, lying dead across the floor.

Then, a sudden feeling of anger jerked him out of his daze, enough for him to look up into the man's cold smirk.

"Gin..." his lip quivered, before his fists clenched. "You'll pay for this, you hear me, Gin?!"

"Funny for you to say that," the man smirked. "But as much as I would have liked to end Sherry's pitiful life myself, I didn't do a single thing."

Confusion made his eyebrows frown, until he _felt _it. A strange coldness in his hands prompted him to look down.

At the sight of a gun his grip slacked and caused it to fall, letting him see _red _again. His hands were soaked with blood.

"C-Conan..."

There he was, standing in front of him with a pained expression on his face exactly where Gin had been before, holding a hand against his abdomen, which wouldn't stop bleeding, no matter how hard he pressed.

"O-Onii-chan..." the child whispered, his voice shaking.

Shinichi took a step forward, and Conan's eyes widened, not failing to notice he had swayed in place just by doing that. Then he stepped up once more, but this time, he didn't manage to stay upright. He started to fall forward.

"ONII-CHAN!"

"Conan-kun!"

A gasp escaped his lips before he could help it, and he felt his mind being suddenly jerked away from that terrible sight to a room that, fuzzy as his surroundings were at the moment, he slowly began to recognize it as the one he shared with Kogoro. The lights were on ─ _why were they on?_

"Is everything okay?"

His wild gaze fell on the source of the voice, and eventually focused on the older girl giving him a concerned look, her hands firmly placed over his shoulders, as if she had just tried to shake him awake.

With a shaky nod, the child slowly sat up. "I'm sorry," he managed a tired smile, as he vigorously rubbed his eyes. "It was just a nightmare."

"One hell of a nightmare," turning around, he noticed that Kogoro was sitting on top of his bed, a bored, and equally annoyed, expression plastered all over his face. "I couldn't sleep with you screaming like that."

Instead of saying something in return Conan shifted uncomfortably, eyes falling on the mattress and, therefore, missing the glare Ran sent to her father's direction before her gaze fell on the child, and they softened almost instantly.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed of. It's normal to have nightmares, Conan-kun," her hands went to his back, caressing it softly in an attempt to comfort him somehow. "Do you want to talk about it? They say they won't come true if you-"

"Don't remember it," his answer was immediate.

So immediate that the girl hesitated, wondering how she was supposed to proceed after that. It died down quickly, however, when she covered it up with a gentle smile, opening her mouth to say something else.

"Who is Jin?" her father beat her to it.

The effect was instant. Ran took notice of the way Conan suddenly went white as snow before he pulled out another of his innocent smiles as soon as he noticed the slip. "Ah, nobody in particular," he then let out a nervous chuckle. "I have probably been watching too much Kamen Yaiba. I dreamed about a villain called Jin chasing me around-"

"And Shinichi," Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Y-Yeah."

There was something passing by her eyes, as if she didn't completely believe him, but let it slide. Kogoro had fallen silent, for some reason, and Conan dreaded to know what he was thinking about.

The detective was slow and lazy, but it didn't mean he was stupid. If, somehow, he ended up connecting the dots...

"Now, now, it's still late," Ran gently pushed him into his back. "You should go back to sleep, Conan-kun."

The child didn't fight her and laid down without so much of a complaint. _It was a nightmare. Nothing like that has happened, _he tried to reassure himself as he pulled the covers closer to him. His eyes caught something, and he found himself staring intently at his hand.

_But that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. If everyone keeps getting involved..._

_If I get more people involved..._

A flash of vivid red caused him to cringe.

When another hand clasped around his, causing him to jump due to the surprise. Looking up, he found himself staring at Ran's gentle, yet worried, incredibly worried, eyes.

"You know, Conan-kun," she said, in a whisper, as she placed her hand, which was still grasping his, over his chest. "If you don't tell us what's going on, we won't be able to help you."

He knew that. That was why his lips were sealed shut right now.

Kogoro said nothing, just watched as his daughter let out a sigh, giving up in having the child to say anything, and instead simply started to tenderly stroke the young boy's hair. He just watched Conan quietly falling asleep, as he reminisced the whimpers, the heart-wrenching screams as the kid tossed and turned, unable to get out of the nightmare that had a tight grasp on him.

_Jin, _and he couldn't forget that name, which Conan had uttered, with a sleepy broken voice that had made his heart clench.

He didn't know anything, but there was something he was certain of.

Whoever he was, this 'Jin' was not a mere character from a children's TV show.

* * *

The week that followed had been as tough as the rest. Eisuke had come by again, claiming that there was a case that he had found interesting and begged Kogoro to solve it. It ended up involving the child that had caused Kir's accident many days ago.

Eisuke ended up questioning him alone and got out of him that a woman in black had asked if he had told anyone about it, and when he asked why she had just said _'A secret makes a woman, woman'._

Conan was convinced, this was _not _a coincidence. Eisuke knew that Mizunashi Rena was not on vacation, and was desperately looking for her.

Yet, the fact that he wasn't the only one was far more disturbing.

So, Friday came around and he had really thought he would finally have a peaceful day, but of course, he had opened the door of the agency, like any other day after school, only to find out that Heiji and Kazuha had suddenly shown up on their doorstep a few hours ago.

One thing led to another, and he had somehow found himself solving, alongside the detective of the West, a case involving a disappearing corpse in a _temple._

Not to say he had to deal with Heiji himself, who wouldn't stop giving him weird glances from time to time.

Conan ended up waking up after nine the next day, only to find Kogoro snoring at one side and an empty futon on the other. _Well, he did say they were leaving early in the morning, _the kid shrugged, as he stood up and slowly made his way into the toilet. _Maybe this way I can have a bit of peace..._

He climbed up the stool Ran had put for him ever since he had begun to live there. _Perhaps I should have asked him to look into that, _ he pondered ─ he had done his research, after all, and had found a picture, taken at least ten years ago, that showed a girl in the background who looked exactly like Mizunashi Rena, where the Tsutenkaku Tower was could also be seen.

Mentally shaking his head, he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste tube. _Hattori has nothing to do with this, _he squished the tube only to realize that it was empty.

_Just what I needed..._

"Here. I'll loan you mine."

He was about to accept it, until his sleepy brain finally realized that there was a voice that was _not _supposed to be there. Wide eyes flickered towards it, only to realize that Hattori was standing next to him, brushing his teeth with a very bored expression on his face.

Conan almost fell off the stool due to the surprise. "You are _still _here," he breathed out.

"It sounds like you're disappointed," replied the older boy, with a raise of his eyebrow.

Blinking, the kid kept on staring at Heiji, completely ignoring his last statement. "You know it's past nine, right?"

"Yeah, I planned to leave early, but with that old man's snoring..."

Conan didn't need him to expand on that. He might have gotten used to it, but it had taken many, many months to be able to sleep through the man's loud snoring. So, he had actually been through what Heiji had suffered that single night.

"Then, why aren't you hurrying to exchange tickets?"

Heiji paused at that and turned to face the kid. "It's okay," he flashed him a grin, which caused Conan to _feel _that some more trouble was coming. "I'm not going home yet."

"... Eh?"

He did find out at breakfast, when Heiji told everyone that he was planning to go to a deserted island ─ frankly speaking, Conan wished he could be astonished at that crazy idea, yet he couldn't ─ and Kazuha told it was for a TV program, before her childhood friend could say something else.

"But is it okay to wait this late to go to the ship?" Ran questioned. "Doesn't it leave early?"

"No, even if we leave now, we'll be there in plenty of time."

_Wasting a Saturday morning in some random TV program, _thought Conan, absently, as he continued to eat, not looking too interested in the conversation. _Well, if he's anything like my brother, of course he would love to show off... So I guess it would be worth for him._

_What's so interesting about getting cameras filming your face and showing it to the rest of the world, anyway?_

"If I had wanted to get up early, I could have gotten there before them and checked out the faces and characters of the other guys who were invited," a smirk crossed Hattori's features. "People like me. High school detectives."

Conan's eyes flickered towards him, blinking confusedly.

"Nichiuri TV has gathered like that from all over the country to see who's the best in Japan. They're advertising it as a Detective Koushien."

Ran and Kogoro gasped at that, completely taken aback, unlike the kid, who simply shrugged before returning to his breakfast. _Well, that's something I would watch on TV, _he decided. It would be a nice change of pace from all the romantic soaps Ran watched, or the cringe-inducing talk shows Kogoro enjoyed ─ mostly because Okino Yoko was there.

"That's why I told him not to go," Kazuha commented. "He'd be an idiot to go like that, just because he was invited."

"I think so too, but I have to go. It was in the invitation letter. I, Hattori Heiji, was invited as the representative from the West," Hattori argued. "Since the West is me, the East is obviously..."

Ran's eyes opened slightly.

"Hey, you don't think that detective boy..." Kogoro gasped.

"... might be coming?" with a smile directed to her friend, Kazuha completed.

Conan closed his eyes. "Not a chance," he said instantly, earning everyone's attention. "Shinichi-niichan is working on a case that's important enough to leave his town, friends and family for more than a year," his gaze fell on Hattori, and narrowed. "It's _stupid _to think he would show up for a _TV show _all of sudden."

"Family?" Kazuha blinked. "I thought he lived alone..."

Hattori almost choked on his food.

"Conan-kun is his distant relative," explained Ran right away. "He and Shinichi lived together for less than a year."

"Eh, really?" the girl then stared at the child, who looked back at her, unblinking. "Now that I look at him, Conan-kun looks a lot like Kudo-kun."

"Besides, Ran-neechan and Shinichi-niichan are married," Conan pointed out, with a plain tone. "So they're family, in that sense."

"Conan-kun, where did you get that idea from?!"

"Sonoko-neechan. Though it pains me to admit it, she makes a good point there."

_They're something else, those two... _Hattori couldn't help but stare at the red-faced Ran, and the still bored-looking Conan, amazed at how easily they had dissuaded Kazuha's question.

Before long, however, Heiji managed to recover. "Well, why don't we find that out?" he suggested. "They said there's lodging for any escorts," he then placed his hand on top of Conan's hair ─ who did not appreciate it. "It might turn out that the kid is wrong and that Kudo _is_ actually there."

The kid opened his mouth to reply.

"Alright," but Ran beat him to it with a smile. "We're going."

_Huh? _that took Conan off guard, causing him to actually turn to blink at her. She was actually giggling at his bewilderment. _She knows he isn't going to be there._

His confusion only grew stronger when she didn't seem to be discouraged when, later that day, the director told her they hadn't managed to contact Kudo Shinichi, so it was highly likely that he wasn't going to come.

As if she had expected it.

_Then why did she want us to come along?_

Apparently, escorts were going to stay on land in a hotel until they returned the next morning, which made Conan wonder what was the point in actually coming along instead of staying home.

"Hey," but then, Hattori crouched next to the kid, landing a hand on his head. "Would it be okay to take this kid with me?" the child's wide eyes flickered to him. "He's kind of like my assistant."

"Assistant...?" he muttered under his breath.

"If he stays in your room, that's fine," the director nodded with a smile.

Conan blinked a bit, having expected a negative response and frowned when the older boy ruffled his hair. "Hey, hey," he tried to argue. "I don't think it's-"

"Why not?" Ran smiled, brightly. "Don't you like this kind of stuff?"

Conan didn't know how to respond, far too shocked to say anything else. Ran seemed to be pleased with the thought of him actually coming with Heiji, which caused him to wonder if she had planned this all along.

So, with a weak nod, he simply followed the older detective to the boat.

"She's worried," whispered the Osakan to him, as they slowly made their way. "Probably thought you needed to liven up a little, so she played along so you could enjoy yourself," he flashed him a grin. "So light up a little bit, will you?"

"Her concern is unfounded," he shrugged. "If anything, sticking with you for a whole day will take years out of my lifespan-" before he could finish that sentence, his eyes caught on something in the back of that director. "Do you know that director guy from Nichiuri TV?"

"No, this is my first time meeting him. You've noticed his Nichiuri TV staff jumper, huh?"

"Evidently."

Without saying much else, they got in the boat. As they did that, Kazuha promised that she would never forgive him if he, the Kansai representative, were to lose. To which he flipped his hat around. "I won't be left behind. Hattori Heiji is _here._"

_Oh, clever, _thought Conan with a smirk.

* * *

"Why?" Heiji's gaze flickered from the other two detectives in the room, who sat in silence ─ one was playing some video games, the other was listening to music through her headphones ─ to the young sleuth sitting beside him. "Why did you bring me along? I hope you know I have no intention of actually becoming your _assistant_."

Even the word left a bad taste in his mouth.

"No, no," he leaned closer, so he could whisper to him. "Since Kudo can't come, I'd win too easily. So I thought I'd give you a chance instead," a bright grin made its appearance in his face. "I hoped you could offer me half a decent competition."

"... What do you mean with 'half'?" he growled under his breath, before he sighed, loudly. "Though it's true that if my brother was around this would've become a decent program. With you and these two, it would be absolutely boring."

_If this is a real TV program, anyway._

The other two soon proved to be decent, however, when they used the terms '_go over the top' _and '_laugh for me', _which the director didn't seem to understand, then laughed around pretending that nothing had happened.

Silence settled once more, and didn't vanish until they reached their destination. Upon standing on the island, an old man presented himself as Kouya Renzo, and informed them that he was tasked with looking after them all.

"Say, Director-san," Heiji turned to the person in question. "It looks like the high school detective of the East hasn't come, huh? What shall we do about that?"

"H-Hey!" Conan tried to stop him from doing what he thought he would do.

"As for the boy representing the East," Kouya spoke. "He was here early this morning and is already at the lodge."

Conan's mouth hung open at that, eyes big and wide as he stared at the informant, shock written all over his face.

Heiji seemed as if he wanted to question what the man had said. "Who is it?!" but the kid was quicker.

Everyone turned to look at the quiet child that suddenly was demanding an answer. "Who is the East representative?" he took a step forward, completely ignoring the fact that there were more people there.

_He couldn't have come, could he? He wouldn't have taken so much of a risk for a mere competition... Right?!_

"W-Well," Kouya stuttered a bit, before he began to think. "I think his name was..."

"Yeah?!"

"H-Hakuba Saguru."

Conan almost wished he had said his brother's name instead.

"Hey," and it must have shown on his face, because instantly after the man had turned around, Heiji had kneeled right next to him. "Who is that?"

"A high school detective, obviously," he replied, rolling his eyes though he was mentally preparing himself for what it was about to come. "He seems to be obsessed with capturing Kaito KID. We met in a case a long time ago."

Humming softly, the Osakan detective stood up so he could follow the rest to the lodge they were going to stay at. "Is that thief the only thing he's interested in?" he then asked, borely looking up ahead, causing Conan to jump slightly. "Unless you're KID in disguise, it would make no sense whatsoever for _you _to be that tense. But you're too short for him to pretend to be you, so..."

The kid's eyebrow twitched at that last comment, but did not say anything. "Remember that incident at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers I told you about?"

"Yeah, when Gin tried to bomb that building with all of you inside, right?"

"He's looking into it," Heiji's gaze immediately darted to the child at those words. "I don't know why that caught his attention, but he has been questioning Occhan and me."

There was no need for further explanation, so they fell quiet as they continued their way, each of them far too focused in their own thoughts to pay attention to anything else.

Eventually they reached their destination and, as it had been expected, as soon as Conan's gaze met with Hakuba's, the older detective's lips curved into a smirk, causing the kid to take a step back, instinctively.

The strawberry blonde would probably have said something, if a loud yelp of surprise hadn't gathered his attention. "Ah!" Conan had absolutely no clue whatsoever as to why Hattori looked so stunned. "It's you!"

_... Eh?_

"Long time not see," Hakuba replied upon noticing his presence. "I hope you're not harassing people for information this time around."

The detective from Osaka flinched at that.

"You did what?!" hissed the kid, low enough for the others not to hear.

"I... I'll explain later, okay?"

Though not entirely convinced, Conan let go.

"Well now," the director stepped up, interrupting them both. "High school detectives from the East, West, South and North, please introduce yourselves."

Even if the crew and hosting talent weren't scheduled to arrive until the next day, which meant no cameras around, they complied. The girl with the earphones and the boyish clothes was first and introduced herself as Koshimizu Natsuki, born in Fukuoka and representative from the South. She had handled less than one hundred cases, so she considered herself a novice.

Next came Tokitsu Junya who grew in Hokkaido and was the North's representative ─ Conan noted he referred to himself as '_shousei', _which was weird but not exactly a crime, so he let this slide. He had handled approximately three-hundred cases, where more than two-hundred and fifty had arrested and prosecuted, yet the rest they got away or commited suicide.

Conan didn't like the fact that he had barely shrugged when talking about the people that had killed themselves because of his deductions, but did his best to simply close his eyes and not to comment on it.

"I'm Hattori Heiji, a pretty well-known detective from the Kansai region," all those bad feelings disappeared with a sigh, upon taking sight of Heiji's cocky, overconfident smirk. "As for how many cases I've solved..." he pretended to count. "One, two, three... It's more than one thousand, so it's hard to count them individually."

The other two were obviously surprised, yet the kid couldn't, actually.

"It's true," he might have noticed the raised eyebrow he was giving him, because the teen whispered to the child. "Even if I may have included searching for cats as a kid."

"That should be considered cheating..."

Hakuba let out a snicker, erasing Heiji's grin almost instantly and adopting a look of annoyance, all over his face.

"My father speaks well of you, Hattori Heiji-kun," he commented. "He said you're a very perceptive detective."

"How does your dad know about me?"

"Because he's just like you," Conan smiled, innocently, before turning back to Hakuba. "Isn't that so, Hakuba-niichan?"

"Yeah, my father is a police commissioner," he explained. "Strangely, since your father is the director general of the Osaka prefectural police, our circumstances are very similar."

Hattori didn't seem so amused about that.

"By the way," the detective of the North questioned. "How many cases have you solved?"

"Ah, I see. I would say around five hundred."

"That's only half as many as me," Heiji grinned.

_I don't think he's counting searching for cats, tough, _Conan left his thoughts for himself.

"Yeah," Hakuba didn't seem to be bothered. "But then again, I'm only talking about the cases that occurred in Japan. I've been studying abroad in England for a while, I don't come back to Japan often. My old housekeeper has been accepting cases for me."

The detectives from the North and South looked at each other. "That's quite unexpected," commented the boy. "That someone who's famous overseas like Hakuba would be the representative from the East..."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I was sure it'd be Kudo Shinichi-kun."

"Exactly!" Hattori also agreed, loudly so. "The high school detective from the East is Kudo. You shouldn't be there!"

Conan didn't even say anything, limiting himself to just observe from his spot, in silence. It was easy to notice that Hattori was pretty irritated, not only with Hakuba, whom he strongly disliked for no particular reason, but because he was taking Kudo Shinichi place.

Not that it was surprising, considering that the only reason Conan had met Hattori was because he had wanted to challenge Kudo. _Looks like he still wishes to compete against him._

"It was my housekeeper, you see, who received the call from the director here. He asked that I participate as the representative from the East to replace Kudo-kun, who could not be contacted."

Frankly speaking, however, Conan also felt that Hakuba didn't fit the role. _Onii-chan is the Great Detective of the East, _his lips pressed together. _The one and only._

"It seems the term 'replacement' hurt my dear housekeeper's feelings. 'The world should know that Hakuba is the representative from the East,' she told me in tears. So what could I do?"

_He _should have been the representative of the East. Not this guy.

_Had things been different... Had I not..._

He mentally shook his head. He was not going _there _again ─ the way his mind worked nowadays was getting annoying and incredibly frustrating.

"However, it would seem I'm not an appropriate representative from the East."

"You got that right," Heiji huffed.

"Then, how about this?" he started to walk towards the child, who simply stared back at him with a wide, innocent gaze, not completely understanding his actions. "I'll take the role of 'guest from abroad'..."

Hakuba then crouched down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"... And let Edogawa Conan-kun here be the East's representative."

Conan blinked, slowly. Then blinked again, letting his words sink on his head.

"This boy is surprisingly good at deduction," his eyes opened a bit more when realization stuck. "I think he's even better than Kudo Whoever-kun."

Instantly, he turned to the detective beside him. "A-Ah, no," he stuttered. "I don't think-"

"I hate to say this, but I completely agree with you," his annoyed scowl turned into a broad grin when his eyes fell on the child. "Don't think we're going easy on you, kid."

The kid didn't return the smile, just stared at him, bewildered. _And he's actually okay with that?!_

"But he's just a kid..." the director scratched the back of his head.

"It's fine!" the detective from the South agreed, with a smile. "It works for me."

"But wait..." the child tried to argue. _It doesn't work for me!_

"More importantly," his complaints fell in deaf ears, though. "Where are our rooms? I'm kind of tired."

Sighing to himself, Conan had no other choice but to succumb to being the East's representative and to follow the director, who was going to guide them to their rooms.

_On top of that, _he gave the detective from Osaka, who was smiling to himself, a glare. _I have to share a room with this guy._

"Hey, what's with that look?" his glare only grew stronger when Hattori realized it and confronted him about it. "Light up a bit, it will be fun."

"What's so fun about this?" he sighed loudly, already imagining the cameras, the attention, his classmates ─ and teacher ─ going wild about it, bombarding with a lot of questions upon reaching the door of his classroom next Monday morning. "It will be a pain, what comes after this... Besides..."

Hattori's smile dropped a bit. "Besides?"

He observed that the kid's gaze had fallen on his feet, and by the frown and the hands he hid inside his pockets ─ most likely, because they were clenching and unclenching, unconsciously ─ Heiji knew it was more than just an aversion to attention.

So, with a sigh, he slowed down his pace, and the child did the same, until they were at the back of the group. Then, Hattori gave Conan a serious look, which he did not return.

"You're not a replacement," the teen assured the boy, even if he did not seem to react. "You're not replacing your brother."

"I know that," he huffed, closing his eyes, frown deepening. "You can't replace people just like that."

"Then what is it?"

For a beat, he didn't seem to react and Hattori really thought his words had fallen into deaf ears, _again. _But soon he was proven wrong when the child stopped walking all of sudden, his eyes fixed on a random spot ahead, but not really looking. If anything, Hattori could infer he was staring at _something else, _that he could not see.

"... I'm not the Great Detective of the East, Hattori."

"Yet."

This time, the kid _did _react. His head turned to the older detective, confusion pinching his face as he just stared back at him, as if wondering what he was even talking about.

"You can't expect everything to stay the same forever," he said to him, the carefree smile from before completely gone and replaced with a serious expression. "Eventually, you'll grow up and suprass Kudo. Some brat will come and surpass me... And then, someone will end up surpassing you. That's how the world works."

Amused by the surprise evident in the usually serious little boy, Heiji couldn't help but chuckle a little, ruffing his hair in a playful manner, despite the small one's displeasure.

"You're _you, _kid," Heiji then, hand idle in Conan's hair as he kneeled down next to him, so he could look at him at eye level. "This is _your _spot, yours and only yours, alright? You earned it yourself."

"..."

"Alright?"

"... Alright."

The grin didn't take long to reappear, as he stood up and looked around. "Now that's settled with, we should get going," he let out a nervous laugh. "And try to find everyone else."

Conan sighed, loudly, only then realizing that they had lost track of the group when talking amongst each other. This would be a pain.

"Once we do, I need to get a word with you."

"Eh? What about?"

The annoyed glance Hattori shot his way only confused him further, if possible.

"How come _that_ guy gets to be called '_niichan' _and I don't?"

"... What?"

* * *

A/N:

Guest: Sorry, I'm not taking any story requests at the moment.

SomeGuy: Frankly speaking, those questions are a bit hard to answer XD Well, there's still a lot to cover yet but I believe that, as you said, I'm halfway from finishing this story, though I'm not making any promises lol! As for Rum, yes, it's going to be a canon character, most likely.


	62. Unable to Go Back

**File Sixty-Two: Unable to Go Back**

"So that's your Detective Koushien outfit?" while sitting on the bed, Conan watched Hattori putting on his black _gakuran. _"Your school uniform?"

"Well, what can you expect?" he shrugged, fastening the buttons on his jacket. "Before you came along, we were supposed to be all high school detectives."

"Whose fault is that?" he groaned, letting himself drop backwards into the mattress. "Though I was surprised that you knew that guy," he turned his head to him, raising his eyebrow. "And what was that about harassing a student, anyway?"

"... Sometimes, you have to break a few rules to get information..."

Conan's eyes narrowed, prompting Hattori to sigh.

"Remember when I was investigating the death of that doctor in Ekoda and found out about that guy called Hirai?" he finally explained. "I only got that name because I accused his friend of murder, so that I could question him," he pointedly ignored the _look _Conan gave him because of that. "Hakuba seemed to be studying there and told me the name before I could pressure him further."

Hattori had expected so many things ─ from chewing him for treating people like murder suspects to point, with a blank expression, that was stupid ─ but he didn't expect what he did after that.

Conan just stared at him for a few moments, before his gaze fell on the ceiling, pensive for some reason.

"But it's frustrating, isn't it?" commented Hattori, as a passing thought. "That Watanabe Satoshi's case remained a mystery. I didn't get any clues after that... Maybe we should risk it and try to investigate that Hirai guy further..."

"Ah, no need," Conan replied, confusing Heiji for a moment. "I've solved it already."

"Eh?"

"He isn't dead. He's undercover as the principal at Teitan High School."

"Eh?!"

Sitting up, Conan blinked at the bewildered expression he was wearing, wondering for a moment why he was acting like that. "Ah," until he remembered. "I forgot to tell you about it."

"How could you have forgotten that?!" Hattori was anxious about it. "You know what that means, right? That's the evidence that we need-"

"-to prove that my brother is innocent, yeah," he shrugged. "He most likely was helping those he was supposed to kill and creating a new identity for them. No wonder the Organization got mad when they found out."

Deep in thought, Heiji plopped down next to him, hand on his chin. "That means, at that time..." his eyes closed, slowly, as he tried to recall something else, entirely.

"_I do not require your services any longer, Hattori Heiji."_

His eyes opened, all of sudden. "Then, that woman I saw in that off-season Halloween party," he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Which woman?" Conan was clueless.

"I think I met with Kato Momoka," Heiji then explained. "Who had supposedly commited suicide a long time ago," his wide eyes fell on the child. "Do you think Kudo helped her, too?"

The child nodded. There was no doubt in his mind that his brother had reached to her, suspecting that they would come to her because of her lover, Tanaka Taro, who had seen Gin walking out of Watanabe's office and shot in front of Heiji.

"But I guess he didn't manage to get to Tanaka-sensei in time," Heiji supposed. "Then, that Hirai guy _was _actually threatening him."

"He wasn't."

The detective of the West blinked, unable to understand why the child was so certain about what he had just said. He found it weird, however, that his expression was completely devoid of happiness, or even arrogance, that would often be there, after finally reaching for a conclusion that he had been looking for so long.

"There's something else, right?" Heiji tried to press him. "Something happened, something big and disturbing enough for you to _forget _to tell me you finally found out your brother is innocent."

A shadow passed by his eyes, but he simply frowned, refusing to look up. At that, Heiji stood up, angrily looking at him, demanding for him to _say _something.

But a knock on the door saved the child. Kouya excused himself as he opened it, informing them that dinner was ready so they were supposed to come to the dining room.

Childish smile back on place, Conan eagerly nodded and skipped to join Hakuba and Tokitsu, doing his best to ignore Hattori's sharp eyes piercing through the back of his head.

"Oh, by the way," at some point, the detective from the North spoke up. "Has she already gone to the dining room?"

"She?" Heiji blinked.

The detective from Kansai was extremely confused, wondering out loud if there was a woman on that island, until Kouya knocked on the next door. In a matter of moments, it opened to show the detective from the South, wearing a _sailor fuku, _while complaining about her school's far too strict regulations.

"That guy... is a girl?" he mumbled, unable to stop staring.

"Obviously," Conan rolled his eyes, causing the other detective to glare at him.

"You noticed as well?" Tokitsu asked, partly amused at the situation in hand.

"Yeah, by the moment I saw you two sitting together," he explained, as if it was a matter of fact. "Your shoulders were far more wider than hers. Her torso was also a bit longer," the child then turned to the girl in question, hands latched against each other behind his back, and an innocent smile plastered all over his face. "There's also the fact that Koshimizu-san's voice is about an octave too high to belong to a man. That's how I knew."

"You're quite observant, little boy," the girl smiled at him.

"That's why I said he is surprisingly good," Hakuba said, as he gently guided Natsuki to the dining room, shooting Hattori a glance. "Unlike some detectives here, he does know how important observation is in this field."

Hattori growled, and Conan could do nothing but to let out a nervous laugh.

* * *

Tsuchio Hiroo, the director, never showed up for dinner, causing the group to set off to search for him. Yet, when they got to his room, he didn't answer even when they knocked on the door. Because of the lack of response, they tried to open the door, only to find out that it had been locked.

The disturbing fact, however, was that there was blood, all over the knob.

"Is there a master key?" asked Natsuki right away.

"No, there aren't any keys," the caretaker explained. "It's like your rooms, you can only lock them from the inside."

"If it's like our rooms, there must be two windows," Tokitsu reasoned.

"Then let's check from the window-!" Saguru suggested.

A loud, banging sound stopped them before they could even move, causing the two detectives to turn and gasp at the sight of the representative from the West trying to break the door open.

Eventually, he did and what they saw inside the room made them stop in their tracks, shocked to see Tsuchio lying in the ground, completely tied up. "Tsuchio-san," it was the child, however, the first to react, falling into his knees beside the man, with Hattori following close behind.

His little fingers pressed against his neck, searching for a pulse and sighed in relief. "He's alive," he informed the teen at his side.

Mirroring his expression, he began to untie him. Conan watched him work for a few seconds, before focusing on the others, who were already investigating the crime scene. _They didn't even bother checking if he was alive before considering it a murder case, _Conan grumbled, annoyed at them. _What kind of detectives are those guys, really?_

There was something they all had agreed. Windows and the door had been locked before Heiji had bursted in ─ a locked room mystery.

Tsuchio groaned, letting everyone know that he was about to wake up and prompting Heiji to help him to sit up. Then, he explained that someone had knocked at his door but nobody was there when he answered. When he was going back, however, he was suddenly drugged from behind.

"Detective Koushien: Case Number One," everyone was mildly surprised when they heard the caretaker say those words, in a deep, serious voice. "Solve the mystery of this locked room, write down your deduction in a letter and quickly bring it to me. If your reasoning is correct, you'll advance to round two and learn how to escape from this island."

Conan's hands slipped into his pockets with a sight, eyes travelling around and searching for a hidden camera ─ could he have missed it?

All other detectives smirked, however.

"In other words," Heiji commented. "The battle's already begun."

"Then, does that mean there's a hidden camera somewhere?" questioned Hakuba.

"Please don't even joke about that," Conan shifted, uncomfortably, already picturing _everyone _hearing his deductions about Natsuki's real gender.

He was slowly getting more comfortable with the idea of showing people his deduction, but that didn't mean he was ready to have it broadcasted to all Japan.

Then again, he found it weird that he hadn't noticed one around ─ he had been paranoiac enough as to check for them everywhere. Somehow, the thought of _no _cameras around made him even more uncomfortable.

"What a surprise," pointed out Natsuki. "I thought having us find out this guy was a fake director would be the first round."

On top of all that, that guy, indeed, wasn't the director. But if figuring out he was fake was not a task... _Is this really a TV show?_

He had suspected this wasn't it, but he had hoped he was mistaken.

They didn't get the chance to discuss the director's true identity any longer, however, because Tokitsu suddenly announced that he had solved the trick, greatly surprising the other detectives by how quickly he had managed to do it. The caretaker stopped him before he could say a word, claiming that only those that solved the trick by themselves would get the chance to participate in the next round, since that one was definitely not the last one.

"Don't worry, I'm not telling it right now," his arrogant smirk widened. "Well, the result will be the same whether it's the final round or not."

"I don't care how the trick was done," Natsuki added. "I just wonder if Tsuchio-san didn't tie himself up after locking the door."

"How could that be? Wouldn't the representative from the West have noticed when he untied the rope?" he replied, followed by a shrug. "No matter how incompentent a detective he may be."

"I-Incompetent?!" of course, Heiji wasn't pleased to hear that.

"It was most unsatisfactory," Hakuba agreed, with a slight shake of his head. "When you discovered blood on the door knob, you immediately smashed in the door."

Conan frowned at his words. _To presume the victim is dead before seeing them is the most unsatisfactory option, _he thought, watching as Heiji's blood seemed to boil with anger.

"In that case, it's best to check the situation inside from the window. Afterwards, you can decide whether to smash the door or break the window glass. If Tsuchio-san were dead and leaning against the door, you would have destroyed potential evidence when you smashed in that door."

"He was eager to get to the crime scene before the rest of us," the detective from the North added. "Doesn't that disqualify him as a detective?"

When Hattori's mouth opened to speak, Conan decided that it was time to join the conversation. So, with a very serious look on his face, he stepped up.

"He's not unqualified."

Surprised by the intense glint on his eyes, Tokitsu turned to stare at him, completely taken away and curious at the same time. Conan did not waver under his sharp gaze, nor did he glance at Hattori upon noticing the teen's gaze on his form, stunned and touched at the same time.

The intensity dulled when a sweet smile drew itself in his little face. "Heiji-niichan is simply hot-blooded!" he chirped, happily.

Heiji's gaze turned into a glare in less than a second.

The others simply giggled, amused at his childish sincerity before Tokitsu decided to leave, just after telling them that he would be upstairs, setting his room like that locked room, which would take around an hour.

"Ah, I'll tell you this just to be sure," he had added, however, before disappearing behind the door. "This trick doesn't require any foolish behavior from any violent detectives. Thanks."

"Well, he won't repeat the same mistake," Hakuba smirked. "The one who made his name because his father is the famous Osaka Prefectural Police Director General. Isn't that right, representative from the West?"

Heiji didn't answer, besides letting his annoyance show by a dry, humorless laugh.

The child beside him stared at Hakuba for a few beats before he crossed his arms behind his head, humming as he did that. "Now that I think of it, I haven't heard about Heiji-niichan before I met him a year ago..."

The teen in question blinked the young sleuth for a moment or so, before he raised an eyebrow. _What side is he in, that little rascal?!_

"But, then again, I hadn't ever heard of you either, Hakuba-niichan, _at all, _except when I started to look into Kaito KID," for less than a second, a smirk crossed the little boy's face. "Which you haven't managed to do yet," it was gone the next second, replaced by a blinding grin. "I guess being famous for a case you hadn't managed to solve must be _quite _disappointing, _right?_"

It took a moment for Hakuba to react, more than strictly necessary, before he let out a snort. "You're right," he admitted. "That's why I have to capture that thief. With my own hands."

Blinking at him and humming, Conan pretended to be interested, while ignoring Heiji's questioning gaze on him. Natsuki, who was watching them all the entire time, let out a giggle, before turning to the detective from Osaka.

"But you know," she smiled at him. "I like hot-blooded detectives like you."

"... Eh?"

Seemingly amused by his puzzlement, the girl giggled once more before leaving the room, followed closely by Hakuba. Meanwhile, Hattori simply stood there, unable to stop blinking, and stopping wondering what had just happened.

"I'm _so _telling Kazuha-neechan about this."

Startled by the young voice, Heiji jumped slightly, spinning around to meet a pair of plain, bored looking eyes staring straight at him.

"What's your deal?" he glared, once the initial shock had passed. "Calling me hot-blooded..."

"You _are,_" he shrugged, causing Heiji's glare to intensify. "What's your problem? I even called you _'Heiji-niichan' _and all."

Raising an eyebrow, he kneeled down right in front of him. "We both know you did it for the sake of your innocent little boy act." He said, pressing his finger against his little chest, accusingly. "You manipulative little bastard."

"But I _am _innocent..."

"As if I would believe that!"

"Give me a break. I still did it, even if I barely stopped myself from puking at the same time."

"Hey..."

* * *

"_The Lavender Mansion Murder Case."_

Conan didn't know why, but those words from the representative from the South had made the fake director grow pale, as if he was nothing but a ghost haunting the old lodge ─ which was oddly fitting, considering how dark it was outside, and the rain pouring over only made it seem more eerie.

Just after Conan had started to tell Hattori about the case ─ a young mistress' death ruled out as a suicide, but got changed to murder half a year later, for unknown reasons ─ and while Natsuki had commented that the cuprit had commited suicide before being apprehended, Tsuchio had suddenly stood up, and claimed that he had forgotten his cigarettes in his room.

Now, the child could only wonder. Not only about the reason for the fake director's sudden leave, but also if everything was somehow related to that case. Lavender flowers had been put all over the lodge, filling every single part of it with their aroma. The dessert he had been served had a lavender-coloured sauce dripping all over it, too...

Whatever the case, Tsuchio came back after a while, looking more terrified and soaked wet ─ which didn't make sense, unless he went out to look for cigarettes or something. He soon claimed he had stepped out for a moment, though.

Two hours had passed since the representative from the North had gone to his room to prepare the trick, but he had yet to return. So the caretaker went to ask how longer it would be, only to return with a worried expression, saying that he had knocked several times yet had no answer.

This time Hakuba, Hattori and Conan checked from the other side of the window, and found him, lying by the window, blood completely covering the side of his face.

Predictably, Heiji ended up smashing the window so he could unlock it from the outside.

Unfortunately, he was dead.

Once they all went inside, they all found out he had been killed by the hammer that lied on the floor right beside Tokitsu's body, which had probably been taken from the toolbox in his room ─ every room had one, whatever the reason.

"A locked room murder," announced Conan, stating what it was obvious. "Koshimizu-san, Kouya-san or Tsuchio-san, it's one of you."

Panicking at the thought of being blamed for murder, Tsuchio confessed that there was _no _Detective Koushien, and that he had been paid by someone to act his part as the director. He also told them that, instead of fetching some cigarrettes, he had gone to use the radio in the shed to call for help, only to find it smashed in pieces.

_Someone really wants us to trap us here, _thought Conan, glancing at his phone with a frown. _We're out of range, of course._

In the middle of the interrogation, a breeze blew by Natsuki's head and a loud thunder roared, prompting the female detective to scream. "I hate thunder!" pressing her hands against her ears, she fell on her knees. "Please, close that window! Please!"

Instantly, Hattori complied. Hakuba, on the other hand, rushed to her. "It's alright," he assured her, as he helped her back on her feet. "I'll take care of the thunder and the case for you."

_... Seriously? _Conan couldn't help but roll his eyes, before turning to the three culprits. "Maybe you three should wait in the dining room," he offered them an apologetic smile. "This guy here and I are going to look around for a bit."

Hattori didn't appreciate the way he had been addressed, but Conan didn't even bat an eye.

"Be careful, Conan-kun," Hakuba declared. "You should probably keep an eye on that detective over there."

"Eh?" Heiji's eyebrow raised.

"Because you're so hot-blooded, or should I say uncivilized?" he turned to glance at the broken window behind their backs. "You've scattered glass everywhere and got your muddy footprints on the desk. That's a horrible situation."

Looking at the place where Tokitsu's corpse sat, the little boy beside them noticed that, indeed, it was a mess. That the crime scene had been altered beyond repair because of the Osakan detective's rash actions.

But...

"Could you have carelessly touched the lock with your bare hands?"

"Yes, to open it! Got a problem with that?!"

Hakuba only shrugged, his arrogant sneer still present. "I'm disappointed in you," he added, walking right past the angry detective. "My father had me thinking you were a better detective than this," his hand fell on the knob, standing right beside the rest of the group. "Anyway, after I take them to the dining room, I'll begin investigating again. Try not to get in the way, representative from the West."

The door finally closed behind the guest from abroad, and with that, all sounds were taken away, leaving the two people inside silently still, unable to make a sound.

Conan just watched the older detective with his wide, round eyes. Upon noticing his gaze had yet to leave the door, and the shadows of doubt dancing behind them, he felt his lips pressing together.

For the first time in a long while, he genuinely didn't know what to say.

"Hey," but still, he tried. Soft and hesitant, his voice travelled across the room. "I would have done the same thing you did... Had I been strong enough to burst a door open, or to jump high enough to smash the window..."

Slowly the teen turned around and stared at him, for so long that Conan wasn't sure if his comment had been appreciated or not. Just stared, pensive for some reason.

"Well," so Conan shrugged, letting his eyelids drop. "If _that's _worth knowing, anyway."

His eyes snapped open at the feeling of something resting on top of his head ─ definitely his hand ─ causing him to blink twice and to look up, confused. Heiji's bright grin met his eyes and, at that moment, he knew.

He knew it _had _been worth knowing.

So, he smiled as well.

* * *

Heiji had accused Kouya for murder, saying that he had gone to see the victim just as he had been finishing his preparations and attacked him.

Saguru had stepped up, claiming that the culprit was none other than Tsuchio, who had been able to force open the padlock on the shed with a single wire. According to him, the man had made a small hole in the window, which had allowed him to lock it from the outside. Then, Heiji had broken the glass and the evidence had been completely wiped.

"I think you're wrong," the young voice came from the door, however, causing everyone to look at the little boy there. "Even if he _could _predict that Heiji-niichan would smash the window glass, he couldn't have known which of the four panes he would break."

He turned to Hattori next, expression not changing a bit even as he said:

"And what's more, no matter how hot-blooded Heiji-niichan may be, if there's a hole, I think he would have noticed it."

The Osakan detective didn't seem to be so unfazed about it, however, given the fact that he scoffed and looked away, as if offended.

Unlike him, though, Saguru was unable to tear his eyes away from the little boy, as he gave out a perfect explanation to Natsuki about how the trick had been done. There was... something.

Something in the way he smiled, confident about his own deductions. Something about the way he spoke, clearly, concise yet not letting a single detail escape him as he explained it. Something in the way he slid his hands inside his pockets, and his sweet smile turned into a knowing smirk.

His sharp blue eyes fell back on the girl. Hakuba was still unable to look away.

"Which means, the one who-"

A hand blocked Saguru's line of sight. "Allow me," interrupted Heiji, confidently. "Yeah, the one who happened to be the last to go to Tokitsu's room, Kouya-san, it must have been you."

"W-What are you talking about?! That guy-!"

Completely disregarding the urgency of the little boy's words, Heiji continued to accuse the caretaker, even claiming that he had proof. True to his word, he pulled out something from his pocket, which he had supposedly found in the victim's room.

"This screw with its head cut off."

Conan and Hakuba's eyes widened in shock, realizing what he was intending. Hattori paid no mind, continuing to accuse the poor, stammering old man, until he turned around, all of sudden.

Natsuki gasped and frowned, realizing that Heiji was holding into her arm, pulling her hand away from her pocket, where her hand had been. The boy then revealed he had taken that screw from the radio in the shed, with the intention of figuring out where she was keeping the rest.

Loads of screws rolled into the floor, and the representative from the South had no other option but to admit defeat.

"Well," Heiji added. "I expected you to at least have the one you picked up when pretending to be scared of thunder."

"Ah, no," Conan spoke up. "She didn't miss any."

"Eh?"

Hakuba walked closer and, gently, pulled her hair aside, revealing that her ears were pierced ─ which was weird, considering she _had _talked about her school's strict regulations. So, she admitted being secretly twenty.

As Conan had suspected, the Lavender Mansion Locked Room Murder Case had played a critical role in her actions. Her friend had been acussed for murder by Tokitsu's mistake and had decided to take her own life because of that, leaving one single clue behind about the detective's true identity: he was a guy that spoke strangely ─ Hakuba's English-accented Japanese, Heiji's strong Kansai accent and Tokitsu's particular way of refering himself as '_shousei' _were all valid options.

The window had been tampered with by Tsuchio, a lousy thief that had wanted to rob the place later. Kouya had been a butler that knew that the mistress had planned to commit suicide, but hadn't had the heart to speak a word about that.

"But hey, hold on..." Hattori worried. "Since you brought those two here because you hated them..."

"Yeah, no rescue ship is going to come," she admitted. "I told that ship's captain if he didn't keep it secret he wouldn't get the rest of his money. We'll all die here together," all of sudden, her eyes fell on the youngest of the group and a sad smile made its appearance. "I'm sorry, little boy."

"No need," he shook his head. "Since we will be rescued anyway."

Nobody understood right away what he meant with that, yet they did when they heard _it._ They all rushed outside, and were more than pleased to see something in the distance, far away in the horizon, illuminated by the first rays of light of the rising sun.

A boat was coming, which meant that Kazuha had understood Heiji's message.

For the longest time, no detective said anything, content with just gazing at the boat slowly moving closer. Only Tsuchio's shouts, as he moved his hands around to be seen, broke the silence that had been settled.

"So they exist..." before long, Natsuki decided to speak. "Hot-blooded detectives like you."

"Eh?" Heiji blinked.

"Busting down a door over a bloodstained knob, or breaking in through the glass," she admitted, with a faint smile. "That's why I put the body against the window. If you rammed your way in and disconnected the window, I would have been found out."

"Sorry about that, because you know..." Heiji rolled his eyes, annoyed at this point. "I'm hot-blooded."

But she simply shook her head. "The right thing is... to have faith in life, until you're sure of death. That's what makes a great detective," she offered a sweet smile down at the little boy. "Right, boy?"

Conan simply stared back.

"Ah, if God ever forgives me..." sorrow and regret painted her voice. "I'd love to do a real Detective Koushien... with you."

None of them knew what to say to that, but she paid no mind. With a rueful smile, her gaze fell on the sky.

"... And return to the days when everything was easier, simpler."

"I don't think that will ever happen, Koshimizu-san."

Not expecting him to talk, the three detectives turned to look at the kid, who simply stood there. Hands in his pockets, a frown on his face and his eyes staring ahead, emptily.

"Once you get innocent people caught in your own mess, you will never be able to go back," his eyes closed, slowly. "Ever again."

Natsuki stared at him, eyes wide, for a few moments, until she sighed. "I guess you're right."

Followed by that statement, the girl looked back at the boat, and Hakuba did the same.

Yet Heiji didn't. His eyes just narrowed, studying the boy in front of him.

* * *

"Are you still disappointed?"

At the young voice, Hakuba instantly turned around. Upon recognizing the small figure in front of him, he sighed and leaned against the rails of the boat that was going to get them home.

"In the end," the child continued, with an innocent smile. "Your father was right when he spoke so well about him."

"I have to admit, the representative from the West beat me," Saguru let out a chuckle. "Are you here to laugh at me?"

"I won't deny it, it was fun to see," he shrugged, before his smile dropped and a solemn look took over. "But... I believe that you shouldn't consider it a defeat. Someone died, for real. To consider it a competition is... not right," the child moved until he was right beside him, hands resting in the rail. "A detective's first and only objective is to discover the truth, not to step over everyone and prove you're correct, right?"

For the longest time, Hakuba said nothing, just gazed into his sharp blue eyes, before he let out a defeated smile. "To think that such a young boy would be so much wiser than most adults," he confessed, turning around so he could watch the sea with an unreadable look. "But, did you know this? You actually remind me of someone I know."

Conan blinked twice, staring at him with curious eyes, and prompting Hakuba to chuckle and to begin walking away. Only then, did the child realize that Hattori was there, staring at them.

"Well, rest assured, I won't look into that certain incident anymore," he told the kid. "I already found the answers I had been looking for," he paused, and gave the young sleuth a smirk. "I will leave the case to you, Little Detective of the East."

Unable to know what to make from his words, the kid simply watched Hakuba walk by Hattori, patting him in the shoulder as he passed. The other detective stared at the blonde, eyes wide with shock, not straying away from him until he disappeared.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked the young boy, still stunned, pointing at the place where he had just been.

"Beats me."

Shrugging, Conan turned back around and climbed on the rails, until he could sit there, feet dangling on the air. "H-Hey!" Hattori rushed over there, instantly, a bit of panic in his voice. "You'll fall down, idiot!"

The kid only gave him an unimpressed look, before he sighed. "It's fine," he groaned, and added without really thinking. "How many times have I said that already?"

"Have you said it much lately?"

Realizing his mistake, Conan's mouth clicked shut, instantly fixing his attention at the sunrise in front of them. Noticing this, Heiji sighed and leaned his arms against the rail, right beside the boy, and pressed his chest over them. There was a thoughtful look in his eyes, as he contemplated what to say next for the next couple of minutes.

"Once you get innocent people caught in your own mess, you will never be able to go back," Conan didn't react, even when his own words had been quoted to him. "That wasn't about Koshimizu-san, was it?"

Again, he only graced him with silence.

"You're worried. Worried that you had involved too many people in this. That's the reason you hadn't asked me whatever you wanted to ask me before," Conan wasn't really surprised that the detective had noticed that. "But why are you blaming yourself? It isn't like you told Kudo to join that organization-"

"I basically did, Hattori."

Not expecting that, the detective of the West blinked at the boy, who wouldn't look back at him, just stared ahead, an indiscernible gaze that was painting his features. The kid just sat there, still as a rock even when the breeze blew his hair around.

"... When I was four... A girl disappeared, and I wanted to solve the case. On my own," a humorless laugh escaped him. "It was like a game to me."

His fingers were wrapping around the rails so tightly his knuckles had gone white, Heiji observed.

"But she wasn't kidnapped, she was hiding. She left a message to her sister so she would find her, which I discovered, deduced part of it," his brows knitted together. "But I trusted the wrong person. She got discovered and I got kidnapped. And Shinichi-niichan... _Onii-chan _found me."

"Then, what happened?" Hattori didn't completely understand. "You're alright now, aren't you?"

The boy turned, and gave him a long, pained look.

"That girl was Haibara-san."

Heiji's eyes widened at that, finally understanding what had really happened, and the implications of his last sentence. Seeing that his words had finally gotten through, Conan looked away once more and sighed, deeply.

"Haibara-san certainly didn't want me to remember, but I guess you can't keep a detective in the dark for long, huh?"

He didn't add a word after that, so Heiji figured out it was his time to talk. To say something.

"You and Kudo are definitely brothers," then, the older detective added, then explained when he noted the confusion pinching the child's face. "You did it once, didn't you? When all you knew that Kudo had simply vanished without a trace. You looked for him. You got involved all by yourself."

The puzzlement drained, and a tired expression took hold. "You know it's not the same, Hattori."

"It _is. _Just imagine this, for a moment," he continued. "What if, instead of all this, you found out that Kudo had just followed after some suspicious men in black he saw at Tropical Land and everything took a turn for the worse?"

"That would be plain stupid."

"Yeah, but what would you do?"

"Of course I would be mad!" there was some annoyance on his tone now. "To risk his life like that, so recklessly..."

"And then?"

"Then what?"

"Would you blame him?" Hattori grinned, as if he already knew the answer. "For involving you, without even knowing."

"... No," after a brief pause, he gave him his sincere answer. "He couldn't have known it would end like that."

"There you go, then."

Conan fell quiet after that, an action that Heiji only interpreted as him assimilating his words, thinking over his points over and over again. Hattori only smiled wider, contented with his unspoken answer, and continued.

"That little girl tried to protect you from the truth. I'm certain she doesn't blame you, either. She wouldn't have tried to keep you in the dark otherwise, would she?"

He didn't answer.

"So don't be so hard on yourself," he continued, his eyes softening at the surprised look this child was giving him. "You were... _are _young. You're allowed to make mistakes," his smile widened, if possible. "But you have let us, older people, _help. _Ran-chan, Occhan, Kudo, _me._ Let us in, Conan."

Conan's lack of reaction was worrying at first sight, but upon closer inspection Heiji realized that the troubled frown had gradually disappeared, and that his hands had stopped gripping in the rails as tightly as before. So, he waited patiently as the younger boy seemed to study him, before looking back at the sunrise.

"... Mizunashi Rena," before long he spoke up, softly and almost hesitating. "I was... hoping you could help me with something."

Heiji's grin didn't take long to appear.

"Tell me all about it."


	63. The Jewel of Destiny

**File Sixty-Three: The Jewel of Destiny**

Conan's hot-blooded informant had been quite fast doing his work. Barely a day after they had last seen each other, the kid had already received a call on his phone, on his way back from school. Naturally, he had slowed down his pace so he could walk behind his friends and answered.

According to Heiji, there was no registry of a student called Mizunashi Rena in the last twenty years, in any school in Osaka. Showing her photo around the Tsutenkaku area, it turned out everyone knew she was a famous announcer taking a vacation, but nobody knew her when she was young. When he showed Hondou Eisuke's picture, which Conan had sent to him, the results had been fairly different.

It turned out he would come to an okonomiyaki store with his father frequently. That man would occasionally come in with his co-workers, but stopped coming abruptly a few years ago. The current manager had also added that he was good friends with the previous one, but had unfortunately passed away.

That manager had, however, a grandson he had been really close to, who worked at a model store close to Beika. _So that's where I have to go next, huh? _thought Conan, with a smirk, after Heiji said he would send his phone number and address to him.

"Thank you, Hattori," he then said to him. "You've been of so much help."

"You're going to question him, aren't you?"

Conan didn't answer his question, causing Hattori to sigh, loudly, as if expecting that. "Just... Be careful, okay?" he sounded resignated, probably knowing better than to try and stop _this _kid. "That Hondou Eisuke's father isn't some ordinary person."

"Yeah, I know," the child frowned. "That's why I have to figure this out before it's too late."

"Don't go alone, you hear me?" Conan cringed, but wasn't surprised about Hattori somehow knowing that the thought of _actually _going there alone had briefly crossed his mind. "At least, tell the Professor and that little scientist to come with you."

Blinking confusedly at the phone, the kid actually paused. "Why Haibara-san?" his eyes fixed in the strawberry blonde, momentarily, as he whispered. "Hey, hey, you don't think she's secretly eighteen, do you?"

"Of course not," he denied the claim, with an amused chuckle. "I just thought fitting if you had someone around to stop you when you try to do something recklessly stupid."

Conan's eyebrow twitched. "I don't want to hear that from _you_."

Not even giving the detective from the West the chance to properly defend himself, the child hung up with a huff, placing the phone back in his pocket.

"Something wrong?" he barely suppressed a jump at the sound of the monotone voice resounding in his ears. "You sounded quite annoyed right now."

"It was nothing," he didn't even need to look to know he was talking with that insufferable scientist that lived with the Professor.

Opting not to say anything else, the boy simply walked past her and joined his friends. Seeing his antics, Haibara paused for a moment, eyes narrowing for less than a second, before she did the same.

They did not talk about it again. That was, at the very least, until she got out of the shower many, many hours after they had departed ways.

"Hondou Eisuke, you say?" she heard the Professor's confused voice long before she could open the door. "Why do you want to go find out about him?"

"Don't be so loud!" he shushed him, instantly. As expected, she met with the sight of Conan's back, as he whispered to the older man. "Or that sharp-eared wicked girl is going to hear us-"

"Hear what, exactly?"

It was almost funny the sight of the usually composed young boy spinning around until he faced her, eyes wide as he stared at her, unable to utter a word. Her blank expression didn't shift.

"Who is that Hondou Eisuke you're talking about?" she continued, drying her soaked hair with a towel as she walked closer to the pair. "You haven't been updating us in a while, have you, Kudo-kun?"

His shock receded, and a frown took hold of his face, before he let his eyes close.

Silently, he nodded.

* * *

The trio could only wait, impatiently, in their car.

Agasa had called a few hours ago the number Heiji had given Conan, pretending to be someone who knew the previous owner of the okonomiyaki shop and that he had been entrusted something a frequent client had lost, so he was trying to find out who he was.

Apparently, the grandson had a photograph he had taken by chance ─ even if the man didn't like being photographed. He had said that the man's young son was most likely playing with his camera.

They had agreed to meet half an hour ago, after the guy had claimed that he would cancel his trip to the gym, eager to talk about his beloved grandfather. But he had yet to make an appearance.

So, the young boy decided to finally open the door. "I'll go check," he stated, turning around to say something.

It confused Haibara the way his eyes seemed to fix on her, for a moment more than needed. Then, he turned to the professor. "Stay here."

Just like that, he left. Ai simply watched him rush towards the entrance, and a faint, suspicious frown took hold of her face.

"Huh? Ai-kun?" Agasa blinked when he noticed the girl opening the door. "What are you doing?"

She just gave him a pointed look and, without even gracing him with an explanation, hopped off the car. Sighing, resigned, the old man did the same.

Of course, Conan wasn't too amused, but did not comment on it. Just sighed, tiredly, before he rang the bell to the apartment.

All of sudden, the boy suddenly paled however, at the sight of a _gun _suddenly resting on top of Agasa's shoulder. The three panicked, of course, until the attacker revealed he was just playing a prank on him, like his grandfather would always do.

So yeah, that guy was the one they had come to visit.

Little did they know, this innocent prank would prove to be the least of their problems as soon as Conan stepped inside, and took notice of the neatly arranged slippers in the toilet of that _messy _apartment.

Conan's sharp eyes scanned every single little thing in that room. Something wasn't right, his gut would tell him over and over again.

"Hey," so, the boy gathered the man's attention, pointing at his computer. "Do you have the photo on there?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

Instantly, the man went to sit on the chair, and the boy instantly hopped on the one next to him, his curious gaze falling on the screen. He noticed that the man was confused, since the data had been strangely erased.

His little fingers pressed against the CPU, and he understood everything.

"Somebody snuck into this apartment."

The blunt words from the child next to him caused the man to freeze and stare at him, as if that kid had suddenly grown a second head. He seemed to be unbothered by it, however, his blank gaze still fixed on him as he pointed at the CPU. "It's warm," he pointed out. "Far too warm, considering it hadn't been on for more than a minute."

Hoping off the chair, his gaze started studying every single corner of the room again. "The slippers in the toilet are neatly arranged," he stated. "Which is weird considering _that,_" he motioned at the several slippers scattered all around the entrance "That's what got me thinking that someone had used the toilet before. That guess turned into certainty when I felt the CPU just now."

"Wh-What the...?" the man managed. "Who in the world are you?"

"Edogawa Conan, detective."

He didn't speak of it, but behind the confident smirk he flashed the startled man hid his fear. Not because of a petty thief ─ no, a thief wouldn't just steal some data on a computer. Conan couldn't help but think that it was _them _instead.

Of course, Ai noticed but did nothing but to watch the boy try to solve the mystery, even if his face was a bit more pale than usual, or his smile was a bit more forced than before. Because she felt the same way.

"H-Hey!"

Not paying attention as the older man tried to stop him, the boy promptly opened a door and walked inside, his ever piercing eyes darting around, taking in every single aspect of the art room he was getting in.

Without saying a word, he moved closer to the curtains, upon noticing them swaying lightly. "The window is open," he pointed out.

"So that's where the culprit got in," Agasa concluded. "Not very secure."

"Ah, no. I always leave that window open like that. I'm always making dioramas in this room, so when I paint and glue the parts and make carvings, it can get bad in here."

He also pointed out that there were plenty of stores and people around, so there was no way someone was getting it from the balcony without anyone noticing. Conan hummed, stepping outside and realizing that, indeed, that was true.

_How did they get in? _Conan frowned, deep in thought. _With this many people, sneaking in is impossible. The door hasn't been forced open either._

"Say, Sohei-san," the man looked down when the child called his attention, hands on the rails on the balcony and eyes fixed on the people down below. "Did you give anyone a spare key to this room? "

"Y-Yeah," Sohei blinked, confused. "Three people."

The child didn't reply, only puzzling the man even further.

_Judging by the heat in the CPU, whoever was here wasn't here for long. And we have been parked at the entrance of the building for at least half an hour, but nobody got out. We would have seen them otherwise._

His hand went to his chin.

_Assuming they got in using the keys, got surprised when we rang the bell and saw Sohei-san on the intercom's monitor, where would they run to? _he started to stoll around the balcony, earning a quizzical look from the man beside him. _Escaping from here seems impossible._

_... Unless..._

His eyes fell on the washing machine that randomly stood on the corner of the balcony.

Meanwhile, the man was blinking, partly confused and parly annoyed by that weird kid running around his place as if he owned it. Agasa laughed, awkwardly, and Ai simply watched him.

The horror on his features had long disappeared, and that was enough for her to feel relieved. That meant it wasn't _them._

"H-Hey, kid, would you-?"

"Sohei-san."

"... Yes?"

"Are any of those three people you mentioned dangerous, somehow?"

"No, I don't think so."

"I see," a childish grin took hold of his features. "Then they must love playing hide-and-seek a lot!"

"Huh?"

He motioned at the washing machine behind him, causing Sohei to, hesitantly, inch closer to the machine. His hand rested on top of the lid, and paused to glance at the weird kid beside him.

Who just stared back at him, hands clasped behind his back. It weirded him out a bit how easily his behavior had changed, so radically...

"Aren't you going to open it?" his smile didn't waver, as he pressed him.

So, he did.

He was surprised when he found his friend Tago inside.

* * *

_Company._

That word had yet to stop popping up in Conan's head.

The photo hadn't been such an important clue or, at least, not as much important as what Sohei and his friend had commented about him.

Apparently, according to Sohei's grandfather, Hondou worked in a company. He had gone several times there with his coworkers, and once had been heard saying something along the lines of _'I'll dive in deeper', _to which they would reply with things like _'good luck'_ or _'no pain, no gain'._

Therefore, the thought of him working for '_The Company' _was not so farfetched.

So when someone came to Kogoro with a strange note that said that they would steal _The Jewel of Destiny, _he hadn't as much as reacted, barely paying attention at the conversation developing in front of him, cradling his cheek with his hand, as he sat at Kogoro's desk.

_If Mizunashi Rena and Hondou Eisuke are actually related... That obviously means she was related to someone working for the Company, and that changes things, by a whole lot._

_... But is she, really?_

Then, all of sudden, his thoughts came into a halt the moment he felt it. A burning sensation in the back of his neck made him shiver and spin around.

_This is weird, _he thought, eyes darting to each and every single inch of the street below him, and the buildings around. Nothing.

Just now, he could have _sworn _that he had been observed.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing but that lone white dove that stood on the window he was sitting beside of.

... Now that he thought about it, that dove seemed to be _staring _at him.

With a huff, he shook his head. Figured he had finally gone crazy.

_You couldn't have been watching me, right? _with a resigned chuckle, his finger went to the bird's head, intending to caress it.

He didn't expect to get bitten. _Bitten by a dove._

So, naturally, the child cried in pain.

"Conan-kun!" Ran was at his side in an instant. "You shouldn't be bothering that poor bird!"

_That 'poor bird' was bothering _me_._

A scowl still present on his features, Conan cradled his injured finger and took a look at the white dove that still sat there, on the window's edge, ruffling its feathers as if nothing had happened. But didn't leave.

... It was kind of weird.

"Let me take a look of it," the girl said, a bit worried, as she gently took Conan's hand into hers.

"Ah, don't worry," he tried to convince. "It's nothing..."

He turned to face the teenager, but his eyes drifted to something else instead. Blinking, he glanced at the letter Kogoro was reading and noticed it, that particular doodle at the end of it that he knew _very _well.

"_**Romeo**_

_**Juliet**_

_**Victor**_

_**Bravo!**_

_In the midst of where 26 letters fly about_

_I shall call upon you and gratefully accept The Jewel of Destiny_

─ _Kaito KID "_

That was followed by a drawing of a two of spades, split in two halves, beside the thief's name.

_I must have been really out of it, _he realized. Considering all he had been through the last few days it shouldn't have been surprising. _If that dove hadn't arbitrarily bitten me, I wouldn't have paid attention._

_... Now that I think of it, it really looked as if it was scolding me for not paying attention..._

Slowly, he turned back around. The bird was still there. _Staring._

But now, he noticed it. The little thing wrapped around its tiny leg.

Ran let out a startled yelp when, without warning, he roughly closed the window, causing the bird to flutter its wings and fly away ─ hopefully far, _far _away from him.

_That petty thief... I'm so going to catch you._

* * *

"Hey, Conan," he heard Genta's voice coming from behind. "What's with the backpack? It's getting in the way."

"Ah," he gave them a smile, tugging the straps of his bag down. "Just a little something."

That only made his friends all more curious, but he didn't give in. Just shrugged when Genta stated that he suspected Conan was carrying snacks he wasn't planning on sharing and turned back around, patiently waiting for Juri to come.

KID was going to make an appearance here, in that theatre to steal the Jewel of Destiny, which Maki Juri, the lead actress, had on her hand.

Soon her manager, Yaguchi Masayo, called for Kogoro and started to guide the group to the dressing room where, not only did they meet the actress in question, but also Sakai Natsuki, her hairstylist and make-up artist.

While Kogoro seemed to flirt with the actress, in some way, and Ran scolded him, annoyed at that, Haibara's attention drifted somewhere else and fixed in some particular spot in the room. Absent-mindely, she walked closer to the table where several, different cosmetics were lying around.

Her expression did not shift, as she simply stared at them.

"Ah!" she heard Ayumi's excited voice next to her. "There are so many cosmetics!"

"Looks like it," Ai gave her a faint smile.

Ayumi's hands wrapped around one of them and she studied it, curiosity glimmering in her eyes. "This is called foundation, right?"

The scientist nodded, stretching her hand to grab one of them. "There are five types of them," she commented, as a passing thought.

"Five different types?" the girl was amazed. "Wow, you know a lot Ai-chan!"

"Not really," shrugging, she put the foundation she was holding back on its place. "Onee-chan liked putting on these things a lot," her eyes softened, at the memory. "She wouldn't let me play with them when I was younger."

Ayumi paused for a moment and slowly turned to look at her friend, her eyebrows scrunching together in worry, until she finally noticed the sweet smile the strawberry blonde had on her lips, or the tender look that had taken hold of her face as she gazed at the cosmetics scattered around the table.

It was so rare to see Ai like this, she realized. _Ai-chan must have loved her sister a lot..._

"She... She must have been really pretty," Ayumi offered, with a bright grin.

At the sight of the girl giving her an odd, almost confused look, made her wonder if she had said something wrong, but then all doubts vanished when Ai seemed to chuckle a bit under her hand. In response, Ayumi giggled as well.

All fun instantly vanished when Natsuki suddenly scolded them, without any real danger, while taking the foundation Ayumi had been holding away from her little hands, claiming that they were too young to be interested in cosmetics.

Ayumi nodded obediently, watching the adult put all her things in her bag once again. Haibara merely stared, unblinking, before turning around to return to the group.

Her steps came to a halt, however.

"Is something wrong, Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked, worried.

She noted the way her friends' eyes narrowed slightly, before she offered her a convincing smile, waving off her concerns.

Just now, Haibara had seen it. The way Conan's eyes seemed to dart away the moment they met hers, or the way he had instantly retreated back, absently checking out a random portrait in the opposite wall from where she had been standing at.

Something else caught his eye soon enough, though, the moment the door opened for four more actors ─ Narusawa Bunjiro, Tajima Tenko, Shinjo Isao and Ban Toru ─ to walk in.

Followed by Inspector Nakamori, of course. The sight of him stretching hands, and squeezing _hard _with anger, caused the young spectacled boy to sigh, heavily.

But he couldn't lose focus with that, he realized. _KID often disguises himself as someone close to his target, _sharp, blue eyes scanned every single spot in that dressing room. _Perhaps he's already among us..._

"Oh, yes," Nakamori rubbed his sore hand. "This time I've specially brought along someone to help with the investigation..."

That caught Conan's interest, wondering for a moment who it could be. His eyes grew wide, as the face of a certain detective crossed his mind. _Wait... _his face grew pale. _Don't tell me... Is that person...?_

"Well, I said there was no need, but that rascal Megure... Ah, no. _Inspector _Megure strongly recommended him."

_If pursuing KID is what we're talking about... There's only one single person that comes into mind..._

_Oh, please, not him._

"Get in here."

Conan's frown deepened. _I swear, if Hakuba Saguru walks in from that door I will..._

His mind drew into a blank, his thoughts trailing down into silence, muffled by the white noise that filled his entire head the moment he saw a teenager slowly appearing from behind the door.

Hands hidden inside his pockets made the air freeze in Conan's lungs.

A cocky, severely arrogant caused Conan's jaw to grow weak and his mouth to hang open.

And those confident, bright blue eyes stole a startled, loud gasp from him.

Because there, right in front of him, a high school detective stood. Certainly, it was _not _Hakuba Saguru.

It was...

"Hello, I'm Kudo Shinichi."

And there he was, his brother. That who had pissed off an entire Organization to the point that they wanted him _dead, _casually standing there. In plain sight.

All for a KID's heist?!

Conan wanted to reprimand him, scream and tell him to get out all the same, but it got out as incoherent sputtering sounds.

"Shinichi!" Ran managed to get out a sentence that made actual sense, even if she seemed as shocked as he was.

He could _feel _his friend's gazes slowly tearing away from the teen to him, yet even if he wanted he couldn't do anything but _stare_. Stare as he gave Ran a bright smile, moving closer to them, confidence showing in each and every single step he gave.

Before long, the shock on his face dimmed. His mouth closed, slowly, as he took into the sight of the older boy, talking with Kogoro and the inspector for a few moments, until something finally clicked.

_That bastard..._

A chill ran down Shinichi's back, causing him to freeze in his spot. Shivering even if it wasn't cold, the boy slowly turned around until he was face to face with the kid with glasses and _felt_ it.

Edogawa Conan's sharp, cold glare piercing through his entire being.

For the first time he could remember, Kuroba Kaito felt the true _fear._

* * *

"In other words, if my deduction is correct... KID won't _kid _around us via the roof!"

Unbothered by the quizzical looks both girls were giving him, Shinichi nodded to himself, proud of his statement, before spinning around and walking away, leaving the other two frozen, dumbfounded by that lame joke just now.

_This is going perfectly, _he thought, mentally grinning, widely. _Now I have to wait a few hours, and when the play is over..._

_There's a single, little problem, though..._

Slightly, the teen peeked from over his shoulder, before instantly looking away once more. _Yep, that's the little problem, _he shuddered, trying to keep his face straight despite the very _dark _aura emanating from the miniature detective whose glare was burning holes into the back of his head. _Are children supposed to be that scary?_

Seriously, the child seemed to be moments away from committing murder in the spot, regardless the many witnesses that were around.

It made him wonder if guiding him to the roof, _alone, _was actually a good idea.

Trying to play it off, he went to the three children admiring the view of the city from the window and joined them.

Conan's eyes never left him.

"To think that Shinichi would show up like that," Agasa commented, as a passing thought.

"He's not Shinichi-san," answered Haibara right away. "He might be careless most of the time, but he wouldn't just show up in front of everyone just like that."

"Then..."

"That must be KID, without a doubt."

The kid looked at her for a few moments, promptly ignoring Agasa giving out a shocked gasp, before Haibara noticed him staring. He broke eye contact right away, the moment their gazes met.

Before he could walk away, _again, _Conan stopped in his tracks, blinking at the arm that the scientist had put in front of him.

"Smell it."

"Huh?!"

"Don't make me repeat myself. It's just a scientific experiment."

"I'm not a lab rat, you know..."

"What did I just say?"

Though weirded out, he complied ─ encouraged by the dark look the scientist was giving him ─ and gave it a tentative sniff. The fact that there was no unusual odor on her confused him more than anything.

"What does it smell like?" she asked, her face straight despite the situation.

"... Flowers, I'd say," he said, slowly. "Gardenias, probably. You've been using perfume, haven't you?"

"Does it smell bad?"

"... N-No. It's... uh, pretty good, actually."

"Then, enlighten me," though her expression didn't change, the severity of her voice caused Conan to realize she was serious. "Why had you been avoiding me as if I smelled bad or something?"

Conan inhaled, sharply, having been caught by surprise by that question just now. Yet didn't do anything but to glance at Agasa briefly, as if asking for help, only for him to blink, dumbly. He was unable to grasp the situation, let alone aid him in escaping the interrogation he was being subjected to.

"If there's something you want to tell me, please just do it," she continued. "I've grown tired of this and-"

Her words came into an abrupt halt. For reasons neither Agasa or Conan could immediately understand, the little girl had grown sickly pale, beads of cold sweat rolling down her forehead.

"Ai-kun," called the professor, seriously concerned. "What's wrong?"

She just gave a shuddering breath in response. This caused the kid's eyes widening, the horrifying realization finally dawning on him.

"Are _they_ here?" his eyes scanned the room, looking for someone suspicious.

For a few beats, Ai didn't say anything. Then, gradually, she managed to get out a quivering breath, eyes closing, finally calming down.

"They are gone," Conan said, more as a statement than a question.

_That was fast..._

_Haibara-san felt someone belonging to the Organization nearby, for a little over a second, _he observed. _But there's nobody but us in this observation deck... How..._

The moment his eyes met with the elevator right behind the place they were, he frowned. _Must have used it to go down from the roof, _he took a single step towards it. _The real question is, which floor?_

"H-Hey..." Agasa seemed to grow nervous at the mere sight of the boy's face.

"Don't even think about it," Haibara's voice was firm, however. "KID is still here. Are you willing to take your eyes off him?"

"You can't be serious," he argued. "Do you really think I would care about such a thing when-?"

"KID Killer."

Conan paused.

"Most people know you're here and are expecting you to stop that thief from stealing the jewel," her eyes fixed on Shinichi. "What would make the KID Killer suddenly lose interest and not even try to apprehend him? People will wonder, will ask," they went back to the young boy. "Not all of them will be convinced with whichever excuse you fabricate... And if that certain 'someone' you just tried to pursue suspects they are the reason and tries to investigate..."

She didn't really need to complete her sentence for him to press his lips into a thin line, turning to stare at the elevator for a moment more than necessary and sigh.

"The best for now is to stay put," she closed her eyes. "You'll draw too much attention if you try something risky."

Conan understood what she meant, but it didn't mean he did like it.

* * *

If somebody asked the young boy what the play was about, he would probably be rendered unable to answer. Not that he could be blamed for it, considering that there was simply _too _much to pay attention to in place of a simple play.

From the entire duration of the show, Conan couldn't help but study each and every single person ─ it was in these moments that Conan was genuinely grateful for the Telescopic Lenses the professor had fabricated for him ─ sitting in the big theatre, looking for anything that could be suspicious.

He didn't find anything, as expected, but figured it was okay. If any of _them _was close to them, it would have most likely shown on Haibara's face right away.

There was also that guy who called himself Kudo Shinichi, who casually stood there, close to the exit, yawning constantly due to the boredom he was suffering.

The play came close to an end and Conan's gaze fell on 'Shinichi' once more. He noticed he was grinning at him ─ as if somehow he knew he could see him from his spot ─ and waving, before disappearing behind the door.

Conan frowned slightly, raising a bit from his seat, but remaining still for some reason.

Haibara, suddenly feeling observed, turned around to realize that, indeed, Conan was giving him another look and sighed. "Nobody is here, Kudo-kun," she whispered at him, annoyance sipping on her voice. "Just _go _already. I'll contact you if something goes wrong."

He took into her exasperated expression, before giving her a hesitant nod. "Be careful, Haibara-san," he whispered back, slipping away without anyone else noticing.

"Have fun."

Not giving another look back, he exited the room and took off running through the halls, rushing down the mechanical stairs with an amazing speed. _They are most definitely gone, _his hand curled around his Detective Badge, before his grip on it tightened. _I... I have to trust her._

He went around the corner.

_If I back up just know, it would most likely be suspicious._

His line of thought got interrupted when, all of sudden, he crashed into somebody else. Barely having time to roll in the ground, protecting himself from a fall that would be dangerous otherwise ─ considering the high speed he had been moving just now.

"Kid, are you alright?" he looked up to the concerned officer he had just bumped into. "That was pretty dangerous."

Conan got back into his feet right away, with a nod. "I'm fine," he replied, with a smile. "Anyway-"

"Is something the matter?"

Both the kid and the officer turned around at the third voice coming closer to them. The moment his eyes met with the officer, Conan frowned slightly, barely paying attention to the other one explaining the situation.

"But your baton is really something!" he gaped, faking amazement, after stating he was fine, _again. _"Isn't it longer than the one this man has?"

"Well, there are many different sorts of batons-"

"Length: 60 centimeters of below," the kid stated right away. "Diameter: 3 centimeters of below. Weight: 320 grams are below," his hands wrapped against each other behind his back, shifting his weight to one single of his feet. "Those are the regulations on batons mandated by the public safety commissions in each of Japan's administrative regions, right?"

The other officer blinked at the young boy that was stating all those facts as if they were mere multiplication tables, before it clicked on his mind. Slowly, his eyes shifted to his 'partner,' not failing to notice that a smirk was beginning to draw on his face.

"Say," the sweet smile the child had been wearing dropped slightly, a knowing glint crossing his gaze. "Why is that?"

"That's because..." he held the baton in question in front of him. "It's not a baton!"

Conan barely had the time to block his eyes before a bright light blinded them. It took him a second to recover, but when he did, the impostor was already getting in an elevator.

_I won't let you get away, KID!_

At the sight of the doors of the elevator closing on him, while the thief cheerfully waved at him caused the kid to groan, then curse when he collided against them. Luckily, the one beside it opened, so he rushed inside, even if the people getting out were giving him weirded out looks.

He bolted the moment he reached the top floor and looked from side to side, searching for him among the civilians hanging around, oblivious of what was really going on.

Upon spotting the stairs that lead up to the roof, he ran again.

He was so determined to capture the thief he didn't even notice the man with the horseshoe moustache that sat there, wearing a black overcoat and a hat of the same colour.

His eyes fixed on the KID Killer, until he disappeared around the corner. Silently, and with a sadistic grin, he stood up.

Gasping for air, Conan finally stepped on the rooftop, and instantly spotted him. Standing under the faint, silver moonlight was an officer, gazing at the starry night.

So, Conan smirked. "Let's end this game here," he stated, once he recovered his breath. "Stalker-Thief-san."

"We should," he turned around, with a pleased smile. "It's growing too dark to continue playing hide-and-seek with you..." he teared away his outfit, letting him see his pristine white, magician suit the kid had grown used to see. "... Tantei-kun."

The child's eyes narrowed. _Hide-and-seek? _he wondered, slowly kneeling down so he could activate his shoes.

"You never cease to surprise me," KID stated, with a wide smirk. "I didn't expect you to figure out I was impresionating Kudo Shinichi that quickly."

"The same could be said about you," the annoyance was visible in the little detective's face. "To attach a camera in a dove's claw so you could stalk a _child,_" Conan huffed. "Not to say, I don't even want to know _how _you instructed it to _bite _me, whatever the reason."

"Oh, so that's why you were so mad earlier!" the thief exclaimed. "You can be a bit too scary for no reason."

"You were _stalking _me."

"I wasn't _stalking _you, merely making sure my message went through properly," he stated, rather calmly. "And when I noticed you weren't paying attention, I made sure to put your mind right on track."

"Your bird _bit _me!"

KID stared for a moment or so. "... Didn't expect you to be _this _one-track minded, Tantei-ku-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, because he had to duck just in time for a soccer ball to wheeze pass his ear. "Wow, someone is angry today," he whistled, taking in the form of the child that stood right there, sparks dancing around his shoe and the deep frown on his face.

In a flash, KID had taken out his card gun and fired at him, so this time it was _him _the one who had been forced to dodge, rolling on the floor.

_What is this guy's objective? He didn't even come close to the jewel. Not even once._

Another card was shot, and the kid stepped backwards, out of its way. _The only thing he did was to talk with Ran-neechan... And then mess up, over and over... _Then right, left, up... They kept coming and coming. _Why would he show up with a baton that long? KID definitely knows it isn't allowed..._

_Was it deliberate?_

Until he backed up. His back collided against the rails.

_Romeo... Juliet... Victor... Bravo..._

"Well, it does seem like the end is near..." then, the magician added, as if mocking him. "Tantei-kun."

Before he could reply, something caught the kid's eye causing him to raise his head, all of sudden, confusing his rival for a slight moment before he understood it.

Because there, he saw it. In the middle of darkness, Conan saw some dots of light moving, soaring across the night sky. _A plane, _he observed.

'_In the midst of where 26 letters fly about', huh?_

At the same time, as if synchronized, both detective and thief fixed their gazes back on each other. There was a satisfied grin plastered all over KID's face, which made Conan realize that he knew he had figured it out. _That _was his plan, after all.

None realized the man that was watching them, intently, hidden in darkness behind the door Conan had just busted in from.

"Should have expected from such a flashy magician like you," the kid stated, with a roll of his eyes. "Stealing something in the middle of a play isn't as much as of a show as stealing in a soaring plane."

"Huh? So you finally realized it?"

"Yeah," he nodded, without batting an eye. "Those English words you wrote are used over wireless communication in order to prevent miscommunication. Airplanes also use it," he shrugged. "I don't have an idea _which _flight is going to be, but considering those two halves of the two of spades you drew, which means an uneven number, I can tell it is a flight departing from Tokyo. Just need to find out where Juri-san is going to fly to next."

"Wow~! Amazing!" the sounds of clapping caused his eyebrow to twitch. "I assume I will see you there, no?"

The man in black slipped away, retracting back to the stairs unnoticed by the pair.

A smirk curved the little boy's lips upwards. KID could swore he saw something burning, behind his gaze... As if something had been brought to life just now.

"If you make it out of here."

Another card was shot, only to get stuck in the rails behind the boy when he dodged it.

When the boy seemed to slip, losing his balance in the process, KID's eyes widened in horror. At the sight of him actually falling down over the edge, the thief instantly sprung into action, activating his hang glider and diving downwards, closer to the child.

But Conan's face was devoid of horror ─ far from it, actually. He pointed his wristwatch at him, but KID reacted just in time and moved, narrowly avoiding getting struck by an angry needle.

Now, KID would have expected anything from this boy. Ever since he had met Tantei-kun, that child had never ceased to amaze him with his bright mind and amazing deduction abilities ─ and there was also that moment when he had been shocked to see him escaping from a burning tower back in March in such a way, but he figured the situation had called for desperate measures.

But the sight of an ─ _somewhat _─ ordinary eight year-old brat deliberately falling down from a building, then pulling out a _paraglider, _without showing any signs of fear was one he would never, ever be able to forget.

Kaito decided it. Tantei-kun belonged to an entirely different species.

So he let a grin take over his features.

Thus, the chase through the sky began.

To say that KID was impressed was more than an understanding, considering that this kid was not bad maneuvering through the air with a paraglider. Sure, he could do better, but he had managed to follow him like a rabid dog, despite his attempts to lose him.

Then again, Conan was _eight _and was giving him a better challenge than that bastard Hakuba had ever been able to.

Eventually, after spotting a moving train, the thief decided to finally descend, an action that the grade schooler copied. KID then unbuckled himself, landing on top of the vehicle, and Conan did the same.

So, they stared at each other once again.

"You sure can be a _bit _obsessive when it comes to it..." KID sighed, despite the grin that he was wearing.

"You've got nowhere left to run. Without flight even Kaito KID is just an ordinary sneak-thief," Conan's lips tugged upwards in a very arrogant smirk. "Or should I say Kuroba..."

KID did an abysmal effort to maintain his panic from showing through his poker face.

"... Toichi-san?"

This time, the thief did not try to hide his reaction. At the lack of answer, Conan blinked confusedly, watching the magician give him a very _odd _look, so different from the one he would have expected from him.

"... What did you say just now, Tantei-kun?"

"I must admit I was fooled. I thought you were a teenager when I took a look of your face that other time," the child's frown only deepened. "But I should've realized you were in a disguise. You wouldn't be as stupid as to hide your true face and age under a mere monocle, would you? "

KID did his best not to look _too_ offended at that.

"I don't know why you faked your death nine years ago, nor why you decided to use Kudo Shinichi's face, but..." his hand went to his belt. "You better give me a good explanation, or I swear I'll _murder _you."

"... As much as I would like to clear those points out... Hey, let me finish!" he barely avoided a soccer ball shot to the head. "... I'm not Kuroba Toichi, unfortunately."

Confusion pinched his little face.

"You are not?"

"Nope."

"And you are telling _me _that?" the kid was stunned. "Anyone would accept that fake cover in a heartbeat," an eyebrow rose, suspiciously. "Assuming you're telling the truth, of course..."

His shock only grew more prominent when the magician _smiled _at him. "I would never do such a thing," if Conan didn't know he was a master of disguise and deception, he would have said it was... genuine. "Kuroba Toichi is, after all..." he looked up at the silver moon above him. "... the magician I respect the most."

For a moment or so, Conan couldn't find the right words to say, far too shocked to speak.

But then, KID's smile twisted, and his usual mischievous grin met his eyes. It was at that moment that he noticed that a thin, almost imperceptible wire was attached to the thief's white suit.

At the realization that it connected with his hang glider, that floated right above his head, Conan took off running. In vain, obviously, because the thief flew away before he could even reach him.

Incredibly frustrated, Conan groaned as loud as humanly possible.

_That was close! _thought Kaito, as he soared through the darkened sky. _I need to be a bit more careful around that kid..._

Slowly, he turned to glance over his shoulder. Conan was still standing there, and the magician could tell he was glaring daggers at him, even if he couldn't see his face.

_Really, that kid... How come his first thought is that Dad faked his death?_

Sighing, KID looked back ahead. _Tantei-kun is insane, _he thought again, before his angry glare from before, that clearly promised a world of pain for him, popped into his head. _And scary, too..._

_... Should I stop messing with him, maybe?_

A beeping sound caused him to pluck something up out of his pocket and, with a huff, place it against his ear.

"I can't talk now, Meitantei," he made sure to let his annoyance show on his voice. "It's pretty dangerous to talk and fly, you know."

"What's taking you so long?" 'Meitantei' was irritated, also. "You were supposed to be done there half an hour ago."

"I had a _little _miscalculation here," he chuckled at his own joke. "Relax, everything is wrapped up for today."

"How can I relax with you using _my _face around?!" he raised his voice. "I swear, if you said something weird to Ran..."

He decided against telling him he had told her something along the lines of '_I wanted to see your cute surprised face'. _For his own safety.

"Word is going to spread quickly, so don't worry. Everyone is going to know that Kaito KID used Kudo Shinichi's face because it was convenient, and that he wasn't actually there."

"... So, how did it go?"

"Ah, right. I spoke with her for a bit," Kaito shrugged. "Rest assured, your secret is safe."

"Are you sure?"

"You said she would have used her karate on you if she suspected something, right? My face is still fine, so..."

"Unfortunately."

"Anyway, you haven't forgotten, have you? You still have a debt to pay."

A heavy sigh was the answer he got. "It's Hakodate, Hokkaido," he stated. "As we expected, Juri-san and the rest are going there for a post-performance celebration party."

"Did our dear 'Kaito KID' get the message that his appearance there, tomorrow, is required?"

"Yeah, I sent him the text... Also, got into Inspector Nakamori's head the idea that Kaito KID wouldn't give up just like that."

"Inspector Nakamori needs to pay better attention to the faces of his men. Slipping in is getting so easy that it hurts."

"For once, I think you might be right..."

Eventually, the phantom thief disappeared from Conan's sight, causing the child to plop down and let out a long, heavy breath. _He got away, _he huffed, sitting cross legged as he thought of the weird expression that had taken over the thief's face when he told him his deduction. _If his reaction can actually be trusted, I would say he wasn't lying. He is not Kuroba Toichi..._

_... Then again, he seemed to panic a bit when I said 'Kuroba', huh?_

Conan sighed, closing his eyes and feeling the breeze blow by his face, as the train continued its way as if nothing had happened. _I need to look into it a bit further, _he decided.

_But first, there's something else I need to figure out..._

His eyebrow twitched.

"How do I get down from here?"

* * *

A/N:

Guest: Well, Conan is eight at this point of time, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko are around that age, too. Haibara is around nine, though. Since this chapter should take place around late April, Shinichi is going to be eighteen soon, Ran should be around that age as well (I don't think we have ever been told when her birthday is, so...).

CherryGirl 6-21: As a matter of fact, I hadn't seen it until I read this. I went over to see it and, indeed, it was really beautiful. I really liked the fact that, towards the end, you can hear a bit of Mai Kuraki's _Secret of My Heart_. I don't know, it seemed to me as a nice touch.


	64. The Poisoned Chocolate

**File Sixty-Four: The Poisoned Chocolate**

Of course, Ran had been angry ─ not surprising, considering she had received a call from Conan claiming that he was in Shibuya Station, and that he had almost given a poor station staff employee a heart-attack when he spotted a child riding in the roof of a train ─ but had managed to live through it

Even if he had to blame KID for the entire thing.

Ran's scary expression as he said that the phantom thief had decided to play a mean joke on him and had left him there prevented him from feeling any kind of guilt. In order to survive, some risks had to be made, he had decided.

Besides, it wasn't like Ran would ever meet Kaito KID in person... _Right?_

"Hey, Conan," whispered Agasa, from the spot next to him. "Is _he _here?"

Conan didn't answer right away, eyes scanning his surroundings before he let himself fall back on his ridiculously soft, First Class seat with a dashed expression on his face. "I honestly have no idea," he confessed, with a groan. "Well, he _should _be here, disguised as _anyone _but..." a frown caressed his features. "There's something else worrying me."

"What is it?"

The professor just watched the kid beside him as he silently turned to see the two girls sitting across the aisle. "Haibara-san sensed a member nearby," his eyes didn't look away from the scientist, who smiled gently at her friend as she chatted non-stop about something. "Even if they didn't meet directly, I can't stop wondering. What would someone like them be doing in such a place?"

Agasa frowned as well, seeing the reason in his words. "It was a famous theatre, lots of people usually gather there," he tried to reassure him. "The fact that a member was there doesn't necessarily mean they were doing any kind of shady business."

Conan merely hummed at that, cradling a hand to his head as he absentmindedly observed the two girls, still not completely convinced.

But Ai's sharp gaze fell on him, causing him to jump slightly and then look away, a weird glimmer behind his eyes as he did so.

"Say, Ai-chan," Haibara looked back at her friend when she spoke. "Did you and Conan-kun have a fight?"

"Not really," was the scientist's earnest reply.

"Then why...?"

"I have long given up trying to find out myself."

"I see," muttered her friend, giving Conan a worried glance.

Ai of course noticed that, and sighed briefly. "Don't need to worry yourself over this," she stated, returning to the book she had been reading. "If Kudo-kun doesn't bother to open up and give out a single hint to us, there's no way we can tell what's going on in his thick head."

This time, Ayumi didn't respond, her eyes still on Conan's form. Then, she frowned slightly and promptly stood up, greatly confusing the scientist sitting next to her.

"Conan-kun," she gave him an apologizing look, clapping her hands together. "Do you mind changing seats with me?"

"Uh, no..." the boy blinked, owlishly. "But are you sure you want to travel with the _Professor_?"

Professor made sure to pretend he didn't hear the clear incredulity in the young boy's voice.

"I'm a bit nervous," she pulled out an awkward smile. "Just to think that there's a chance that this plane falls down I..."

"I don't think that's going to happen... The odds of a plane crash are actually lower than-"

"Don't you see she's scared, Conan-kun?"

"Just change seats with her!"

Of course, Mitsuhiko and Genta were fervently defending their dear Ayumi, glaring daggers at their friend, who seemed to be unable to see he was bothering her. Fearing that this would result in bloody murder ─ even if neither the victim or culprits would be older than eight ─ Conan sighed and, without further word, he plopped down next to the strawberry blonde girl.

Who simply turned the page from the book she was reading.

"What's wrong with her?" Conan grumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. "It's not like this is her first time flying..."

"You are the detective, Kudo-kun," her voice, even as usual, rang at his side. "If you can't figure it out there's an ulterior motive behind her actions..."

The boy didn't answer, simply watching the girl beside him finally closing the book in her lap and fixing her icy blue gaze on him.

"I'm no detective either," she stated, eyes narrowing. "And my patience is getting thin. If you don't have the courage to give me, at the very least, a _hint _of what you have been wanting to tell me all this time, I will probably break your skull with _this_."

He wouldn't doubt it, he realized with a shiver, eyeing the thick Sherlock Holmes' book ─ which, admittedly, _he _had lent her before ─ Haibara was cradling in her hands.

Slowly, his hesitant gaze rose to meet with hers and didn't break eye-contact until she closed her eyes, with a tired sigh.

"I won't pretend I don't know what all of this is about, though," she admitted, and he shifted uncomfortably. "You should know already that I don't bear any grudge against you."

"... I know."

Ai watched him look away, that deep frown carved into his face again, and deemed it safe to assume that it wouldn't be as easy to solve this just like that. So, she opened her mouth to speak.

Her voice died down before she could say a word, and a familiar chill ran down his spine, freezing the blood in her veins instantly.

"Haibara-san?" the frown on his features was far from gone, but this time instead of hesitance she could see plain concern, which was understandable.

But then, all of sudden, horror made his face grow pale. That was more than enough for her to know that Conan had realized what was going on.

Without waiting for an answer, the boy's sharp eyes wandered around the room. _It can be anyone, _he thought, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead, as he watched Eri suddenly walking in ─ probably one of Ran's many schemes to get her parents together, judging by the way the lawyer had been surprised to see Kogoro sitting on the seat next to hers.

"Hello, everyone! Sorry to keep you all waiting!"

"Shinjo-san! Didn't you say you weren't coming because you were feeling ill?"

"Nah, I'm feeling much better."

Shinjo then went to the seat that Juri was now sharing with Kogoro, and kneeled down next to the woman. He kissed the Jewel of Destiny she wore on her finger as a ring.

_Anyone could be KID..._

"Ah! Excuse me!" a female flight attendant bumped into someone else, right next to the child. "I wasn't paying attention... Huh? Do I know you?"

"I don't think so," laughed the male one, scratching the back of his head as a nervous gesture. "I'm new at this work, so..."

"But I thought Yuki-chan..."

"She had a bit of a sick stomach, so I had to replace her at the last moment. Looking forward to working with you!"

_Anyone could be their member, too..._

He needed a better perspective of the plane, especially considering he was sitting on one of the front seats. So, he began to turn so he could watch over his shoulder.

"Don't," Haibara stopped him, however, by landing a trembling hand on his shoulder. "We're in an enclosed area. If they suspect that we know about them, with everyone abroad..."

Conan didn't need her to finish that sentence, since it was obvious enough. So, with a huff, he leaned back down. "But why are they here?" he wondered, outloud. "We still don't know what they were doing in a place like that the other time..."

"Do you think it has something to do with KID?"

"Impossible," he scoffed. "Why would that petty thief...?"

He trailed off into silence as realization dawned on him, causing his eyes to widen behind thick glasses. _Could it be...? _he managed to compose himself. _That the actual reason he's doing what he's doing... More than just showing off..._

_No way, _he shook his head. _That's preposterous._

Taking a deep, quivering breath, Haibara held the book between shaky hands and continued to read. "All we can do for now is wait," she stated, eyes trained in the words on the paper. "You can continue looking for KID in the meanwhile."

"You're taking it much better than that other time on the bus," observed the boy.

"That woman isn't there," she informed. "And while their scent is certainly strong, I don't think it's someone ranked as high as the rest."

How she knew that just by scent, Conan didn't know, but didn't dare to question it either.

The plane soon took off, and the boy made sure not to let any detail of what was happening around him escape his attention. Such as Ayumi not wanting him to see her holding her nose and blowing because of the change of pressure ─ Haibara said something about him being the opposite gender so she didn't want him seeing something so disgusting, but honestly Conan didn't see the point of that ─ or Juri going to the toilet ─ which took, strangely, a bit too little time.

_Service for the cockpit? _Conan blinked, surprised, to see the female flight attendant carrying a tray of coffee and some biscuits to the pilots, which was unusual in domestic flights like that one.

It was even more strange to see Juri standing up, trailing behind the woman and entering the cockpit, waving enthusiastically. So, naturally, the young sleuth decided to slide out of his seat and take a peek.

_So Juri-san used to be a pilot, huh? _he hummed to himself, watching as the two pilots kissed her hand.

"This is not a place you should be at, little boy," at the voice behind him, Conan jumped slightly. "It can be dangerous."

Spinning around, the boy's gaze rose to meet the face of the male flight attendant from before, a kind smile plastered all over his expression. _I didn't even notice him, _he realized, unconsciously taking a step back.

"Will you please be a good boy and get back to your seat?" the young man continued, glancing at where Haibara was currently seated. "Leaving your friend there, alone, isn't nice, now is it?"

Nodding, a bit dumbfounded still, the child hurried off back to his seat. Once he was in his proper place, the young man smiled and walked away, further to the back of the plane. Only then, did Conan let his frown take place.

"He isn't them," Ai's voice broke through before he could think of anything else.

That made him relax, somewhat. _But there's something that doesn't fit about that guy, _but he couldn't quite pinpoint it. _Is he KID? Or..._

Sighing, he focused back on the jewel in question, moving back and forth in his view as Juri's finger hesitated, carefully studying each and every single chocolate from the box her assistant was holding up for her.

Once she picked one, Masayo offered Kogoro one. By the time he was putting it on his mouth, Juri was licking her fingers.

"Delicious!" Kogoro cried, happily.

Yet, it seemed like the actress wouldn't be able to enjoy it nearly as much, if the way she wrapped her hands around her throat, sounding like she was choking, was something to go by.

"Miss, are you okay?!" the male flight attendant pressed a hand, gently, against her shoulder. "Miss-?!"

His voice died down on his throat when the woman just fell into the ground, leaving his hand grasping the air. Instantly, he dropped on his knees, unable to do anything but to watch her desperately trying to _breathe._

Then, all sound was gone, and Juri just lied there, motionless.

Kogoro kneeled down next to him while the young man searched for a pulse. No avail ─ he dejectedly shook his head from side to side.

"There's an almond scent," pointed out the kid, from beside them.

This time, Kogoro didn't push him away, just nodded gravely. "Cyanide poisoning, then," the older detective nodded.

"It's the chocolate!" Ban cried. "There was poison in the chocolates!"

It took a moment for Kogoro's brain to process those words, yet when they did his face contorted into a horrified expression, his face going white as he realized the implications of that sentence.

"Five minutes," Conan's plain voice rang through his ears, as he stared at his watch.

"Five minutes?!" he was screaming now. "You can't just say I have only-"

The boy's blank eyes rose to meet his, and raised an eyebrow. "Five minutes _have passed _since you ate those chocolates," he explained, with a bored tone, crossing his arms behind his head. "Since you're screaming like a madman right now instead of dropping beside Juri-san, I think it's safe to assume that you _are _okay."

Conan guessed that the relief of actually being safe prompted Kogoro to let him off the hook, despite his rude statement, with no more than a weak glare before bending over the deceased actress so he could get her out of the corridor.

Moments later, Eri was placing a cloth over Juri's body, that sat on her previous seat. In order not to let panic settle in, they were told that the Captain had decided not to let the news of that incident leak until they arrived at their destination.

_But, who? _Conan studied each and every face of the people surrounding the body. _It must be one of them._

But as Natsuki had pointed out, all of them had a motive to end her life ─ she had treated everyone poorly, in one way or another.

"In order to preserve the crime scene," Kogoro called out. "Would everyone please move to the seats at the back?"

Instead of raising from his seat, Conan's eyes shifted to look at the girl that just sat there, unmoving, unblinking. She seemed to have forgotten to breathe, as she just gave the seat in front of her a hard look.

It didn't take a genius to see that the reason she acted like that was there, in the back of the same cabin they were at.

"Left or right?"

If he knew what side of the aisle that person was sitting at, he figured he would be able to block his sight with his body by walking beside her, but the look Haibara gave him was enough to know that she had absolutely no idea.

"Is something wrong, kids?"

Conan's head snapped towards the source, only to see the male flight attendant from before, blinking confused eyes at them both. It took the child a moment to recover, and force out a hopefully convincing smile.

"She is a bit scared," he lied, easily. "After everything that just happened, and stuff."

"Is that so?" the young man kneeled down in front of the girl, and let out a reassuring smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of, ojou-chan_. _Your friend here and I are going to be right next to you," he turned to Conan. "Right, boy?"

He nodded, dumbly.

"See?" the man seemed to ask for her hand. "We will walk with you, come."

Hesitantly, the girl took his hand and slowly raised from her seat. Conan watched, for a second, as the flight attendant stood right next to her before joining her other side. _This is actually beneficial, _he thought, realizing that Haibara remained mostly hidden as they walked. _Could this guy actually...?_

Her hold on the man tightened all of sudden, and her breath picked up, Conan observed.

But before he could say anything, he took sight of something. For less than a moment, he saw _someone _sitting there, in the row that the flight attendant was covering with his body.

It was far too brief to see clearly, but noticed he was dressed in _black, _from head to toe. By the dark fedora and overcoat alone, he would have mistaken him with Vodka, but the horseshoe mustache let him know it was someone entirely different.

Soon, they passed by him, and only then Haibara seemed able to recover herself.

"There we go," the flight attendant smiled with kindness, letting the girl sit again. "It wasn't so tough, was it?"

Haibara didn't reply, just stared blankly at him.

"Thank you," laughing nervously, Conan decided to speak instead.

"I will leave the rest to you, " the man winked at the young boy. "Take care of that small lady, okay?"

Then he walked away, leaving Conan alone to raise an eyebrow far above from his hairline, watching him go for a moment, before sighing.

"At least you weren't seen," he pointed out, turning to give the girl a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Have been worse," she admitted, with a shrug, opening her book once more. "More importantly, have you figured it out? The murderer behind the poisoning."

"No," he frowned, eyes back on the front, watching Kogoro accusing someone with little-to-no proof, as usual. "I don't know _how _they did it, either..."

"Hey, Genta-kun," Mitsuhiko's voice, coming from behind them, gathered his attention. "How can you eat at a time like this?"

"Because it'd all go to waste otherwise!"

He glanced at them, and his eyes opened at the sight of Genta licking his fingers after shoving a biscuit in his mouth. _I see... _they kept on widening, gradually, as they stared at the chocolate that covered his entire face after it. _So that's how it was!_

"Ah!" deciding it was time to act, he pointed at his friend while shouting, loudly. "Genta, your mouth is all dirty!"

He had gathered the attention of everyone, including Kogoro, but pretended not to notice.

"Ah, Conan-kun is right!" exclaimed Mitsuhiko.

"Clean yourself up, Genta-kun," admonished, lightly, Ayumi.

Giving out a shaky nod, he wiped it all away with his hand.

"Now _your hand _is dirty. It has chocolate all over," Conan raised an eyebrow. "How is _that _better?"

By the corner of his eye, he noted Kogoro walking a bit closer.

"Well, that can be solved quickly," the big boy proudly proclaimed, before starting to lick his hands.

The older detective was right beside the group, causing the bespectacled child to smirk, fully expecting him to realize the case by that. He didn't expect, however, to be lightly elbowed in the head. "Ow, that hurt!" he complained. "What was all of that about?!"

"Don't be so loud!" he scolded the kid. "I'm trying to think here."

"Good luck with that."

This time, the blow he received wasn't as light as it had been. Holding his sore head, he glared back at the man, who scolded, before walking back to the seat where Juri's body sat, in the front.

_Seriously, how clueless can you be, Occhan? _sighing tiredly, he pinched the bridge of his nose. _Now, what?_

He missed, however, the surprised look Eri was giving his way, carefully studying the situation at the kids' seats. Eventually, her stunned expression dimmed, and a soft smirk took hold of her features.

Kogoro noticed her change of attitude, and it confused him. His mouth opened, eyes fixing on her, but she didn't let him finish.

"Dear, you can stop putting on airs," she stated, causing Conan to blink and look at the lawyer. "That's quite enough. Let's hear the truth from you."

"Eh?" Kogoro was annoyed, even if he had no clue what she was talking about.

"Do you seriously do not get it? Sadly I can't say I'm surprised, Great Detective Mouri Kogoro."

Kogoro glared. "Well, If you know how it happened, do it yourself," he scoffed, looking away with a very annoyed look.

"Alright," the woman began to pace through the corridor. "I'll explain the situation."

"Huh? Really?"

Conan still couldn't get over his shock. _Well, not that it should be surprising, _but slowly, he managed to compose himself. _Eri-obasan is much more intelligent than Occhan, by a whole lot... _

_It should be okay, I guess._

The way she explained it made the child wonder why it was her husband the famous detective and not her ─ arguably, she was a terrific lawyer, so it shouldn't be that shocking. She correctly told everyone that she had gone to the bathroom to clear her ears by pinching her nose.

A female, more often than not, would be embarrassed to do it around someone of the opposite gender. "No matter how much a blockhead you are, you are the opposite gender," she added, with an unnecessary amount of rudeness in her tone.

Therefore, if the poison had been in the foundation applied to both sides of her nose, it would have ended up on her fingers, then in her system after eating those chocolates.

"The culprit responsible for Juri-san's death..." she paused, right beside a particular seat, and glared at the person on it. "... it's you, Sakai Natsuki-san."

_She got it perfectly... As expected from her._

At first, the culprit was shocked, but eventually tried to cover it by laughing, loudly. "That's not possible!" she exclaimed. "Still, that was a fairly interesting deduction-!"

"So that was why!" in an attempt to aid her, Conan smiled a bit _too _sweetly. "That's why you chased Haibara-san and Ayumi-chan away from the foundation when they were looking at it! It would be terrible luck..." his smile turned into a wicked smirk. "... if someone messed with them just the same day that you were going to use it to commit murder, right, miss?"

Her smile had long dropped, instantly jumping into her feet, anger written all over her face as she turned to the lawyer. "Then, if you're so sure, show me your evidence!" she screamed.

Eri closed her eyes. "That's right," she admitted. "If we had examined the thumb and forefinger of Juri-san's right hand and actually found a poison-laced foundation there, it would have served as sufficient evidence, but given that Juri-san licked the poison off, that evidence has vanished, hasn't it?"

The satisfied sneer Natsuki gave _should _have been considered evidence enough.

Before the lawyer could continue, the young male flight attendant walked closer. "If it were me..." he stated, earning everyone's attention. He paid no mind at the clueless looks everyone was giving the confident smirk he was wearing.

The way Shinjo buried his face in his hands, with an exhausted sigh, went unnoticed by everybody else, however.

"... I would've sent the evidence, the poisoned foundation and the sponge..." his eyes narrowed. "... to my own house, via the mail."

Natsuki gasped, horrified.

"So, if we contact the airport post office and have them investigate the mail parcel, we'll know," he walked right beside the lawyer, hands inside his pockets. "Will you give us your home address, Sakai-san?"

Conan could only stare, eyes wide open, at the suddenly over-confident flight attendant.

Like that, the culprit confessed to the crime. She explained that she had always dreamed of becoming a Hollywood make-up artist, but once one contacted her Juri had interfered, therefore ruining _everything._

"She had ruined my pride as a make-up artist," she dropped into her knees, crying inconsolably.

Kogoro moved closer, a deep frown carved into his features. "Your pride as a make-up artist? Don't make me laugh!" he sounded angry. "If that were the case, why would you use your make-up as a weapon?"

Had it been any other time, Conan would have sarcastically pointed out how unusual it was for Kogoro to say something so deep, but he couldn't. There was a feeling, a bad feeling settling on the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't point it out.

"Kudo-kun?" and it must have shown on his face, he figured, if the way the girl beside him whispered, concerned.

Overhearing the conversation, the male flight attendant turned to give the child a curious look.

All of sudden, the boy's head raised as the memories of that day filled his mind. Juri's fingers, the biscuits that were brought to the cockpit...

"... Kudo-kun?"

His eyes widened, upon remembering the two pilots kissing her hand, and his face grew pale the next instant.

"Kudo-kun!"

"Stay here, okay? Don't let yourself be seen."

Before she could even ask what was going on, the kid had bolted out of his seat and to the front of the plane, passing by the surprised adults that stared, cluelessly. "The captain and copilot are in danger!" he shouted, hurrying to the cockpit.

He didn't even wait for them to comprehend what was going on, but dimly noticed that two female flight attendants and Kogoro were right there as soon as he opened the door.

As predicted, the two men were groaning, holding their throats and trying to breath, more or less like Juri had done seconds before her death.

All of sudden, the captain collapsed right in front of the control yoke.

Now, Conan might not have an idea of how to fly a plane, but he was _pretty sure_ that suddenly plummeting down into the ground was _not _the way it worked.

"Hurry, pull him up!" he shouted at Shindo, one of the flight attendants. She complied right away.

So, if pulling it down caused _this, _it did not take a genius to know that, to prevent their deaths ─ for now ─ he needed to do the opposite.

He slipped right in front of the unconscious man, placed his hands on the yoke, his feet on the dashboard and _pulled, _with all his strength.

The airplane returned to its normal curse. _Now, what? _he thought, between breaths. _The autopilot had most likely deactivated, so to activate it again..._

A hand passed by his head and pushed a button. "Shinjo-san?" he blinked, in surprise.

"Not bad, kid."

Thankfully, there was a doctor abroad, so the pilots were treated right away, even if they had to be moved to the passenger cabin.

Shinjo had needed help from Ban and Narusawa but, despite some inconveniences – such as a minor turbulence that almost knocked Ban off his feet, but managed to catch himself just in time – they succeeded in getting them out.

The good news was that their lives were not in danger, in the downside, now they lacked a captain _and _a copilot.

Things were bound to get ugly, Conan frowned.

"I'll take over the captain's seat. As for the copilot's seat..."

The frown was replaced by a bewildered expression when Shinjo pointed at him and said:

"Could I get you to take care of that for me?"

Silenced by shock, Conan just stared back at him, blinking twice for good measure before turning around, so he could make sure that, really, was _not _somebody else standing behind him.

Ignoring the fact that the three kids, Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, were standing there, looking even more confused than _he _was, there wasn't anybody there. So, slowly, he turned back around.

Shinjo was still looking at him, smirking as he did so.

... _Say what?!_

"Your judgment with the control yoke earlier was pretty impressive," he continued. "Can you do it?"

Conan stared at him for a few more minutes before nodding his head, hesitantly, and taking a step forward. A hand in front of his face stopped him from reaching the seat however.

"_I _will take that seat," looking up Conan found the male flight attendant from before, raising an eyebrow at Shinjo. "I can-"

"I can't let you do that," said Shinjo, his smirk still in place. "You have a job to do, don't you? There are many passengers out there."

"But he's a _child._"

"Don't worry," Conan smiled brightly at the young man. "I've flown planes lots of times in the arcade center!"

The man's eyebrow rose, as if he magically _knew _Conan, the child with deplorable gaming skills, had probably been in his school's principal office more times than at an arcade ─ which meant little to nothing.

But still, the kid slipped away and sat in his place. The male flight attendant just stared, before sighing. "You should go back into your seats, kids," he said to the other three children. "You shouldn't be here."

"Fine..." they chorused, sounding terribly envious of their friend.

The flight attendant watched them rush out the cockpit and silently followed them. He watched the two boys go back to their place and the girl sitting next to the strawberry blonde, who merely smiled at her before returning to her book.

He studied her for a moment and frowned slightly. By the corner of his eye he could see that man in black ─ he hadn't made a move, even if his eyes wouldn't leave the seat where Juri's body had been placed.

_As absurd as that sounds, the cockpit is the safest place in this entire plane right now._

As much as he hated it, he could do nothing but to _wait._

_If that guy is with him, it should be alright... Probably._

* * *

"You're KID, right?"

Shinjo turned to look at the kid sitting beside him. "What are you talking about?" he questioned.

"Stupid, drop the act already," Conan leaned back into his seat, crossing his arms behind his head. "There's absolutely no person in this world that would let an elementary school student take the copilot's seat. Besides you, of course."

A familiar laugh ran through his ears. "You got me there," KID's voice, which sounded a lot like Kudo Shinichi's, resounded in the room. "As expected from you."

"I kind of suspected you ever since Shinjo-san, who was supposed to be sick, suddenly appeared," Conan shrugged. "It had to be either you, or that new flight attendant. But seeing the scandalized look on his face when you suggested it, I could tell."

KID's smirk only widened.

"Anyway, when is your plan on taking possession of the Jewel of Destiny?"

"I'm not after it anymore," the magician replied, confusing the detective for a moment. "You should know about it as well, a real star sapphire is cold when you touch it with your lips."

Humming in response, Conan understood what that meant. Previously, KID had kissed Juri's lips, most likely to ascertain that it was, indeed, fake. So there was no need to steal it.

"What are you going to do?" the thief asked, in a teasing tone. "Are you going to arrest me, Tantei-kun?"

"Of course, after this giant metal bird has returned to its nest," his sharp gaze was shot at him. "And after you answer some questions."

"Oh?"

"Like who is that man in black your assistant is keeping watch on."

Hadn't he been actively looking for any kind of suspicious behavior, he would have missed the way his body tensed, for less than a second. The next moment, he was back to normal, looking at the child as if he had absolutely no idea of what he was talking about.

Before he could press any further, however, they received a call from the tower, telling them that the Hakodate Tower would take over. Conan guessed that he could try this later, that it could wait.

But once he got the chance, he wouldn't let him off the hook so easily.

"We'll get right to it. Do you see the M.C.P? That's the Mode Control Panel."

"Yes," KID replied, making use of Shinjo's voice. "I see it."

"Then please press the APP button on that panel. This will enable the plane to lower itself onto the runway automatically."

KID's eyes travelled around the panel, searching for the button in question. "Ah, is that one?" Conan pointed at it, noticing the 'APP' label on it. "It's pressed!" he informed, with a cherry tone.

It was almost comical the way the person in the tower panicked when he realized that there was a child in the cockpit ─ completely understandable, however. He calmed down, somewhat, when the kid assured him he would not touch any buttons before ending the call for now.

"Now we can relax for the moment," Conan stated.

"Can you handle operating the flaps and the landing gear?"

"Well, I guess..." he said, hesitantly, suddenly intimidated by the many controls in front of him. "The gear level is this one... The flap level must be... _this_, right?"

"Exactly," KID nodded, with a grin. "If you already know that much, this will be easier... I'm not sure I _want _to know how, but..."

"I read a lot of this last year."

"What kind of kid reads about planes in his free time?"

"I was bored, okay?" he huffed. "I was practically banned from any mystery books, so..."

He did not appreciate the way the thief laughed, _loudly. _"You were _grounded?! _Guess a child will always be a child," Conan's eyebrow twitched in response. "Did you misbehave?"

"I... kind of grabbed a bomb, stole a bike and took it to a nearby river."

"You _what_?"

"You chose a kid to assist you in landing a plane. That's worse."

"Oh, no, it's not," KID chuckled, causing the boy to blink at him, confusedly. "If you have the level of judgment to fall off a building and chase me on a paraglider across the city without panicking, I think you're much more capable than any adult here," his eyes went back to the front window. "Even if you had never read a word about airplanes before, the same could be said about everyone else. I'd rather have a level-headed, young child than a full-grown panicking adult here."

The child seemed to think over those words for a moment, before shrugging, convinced with his argument, and turning to look outside. The rain that had been pouring over them had gotten stronger now, causing the boy to frown slightly, hoping against hope that _this _time he would be lucky enough not to have any problems with that.

Of course, it wouldn't be this way. Once they were getting close to the Hakodate Airport and were about to land, a loud noise rang through, and a bright light momentarily blinded them ─ it didn't take a genius to know they had been struck by thunder.

When the light died down, both thief and detective were horrified to find themselves in the middle of darkness. "This is Flight 856!" Conan was quick to shout. "We've just been struck by lightning and all the displays have turned off!"

"Calm down. Turn the white knob next to the glare shield."

KID did as he was told, and instantly the lights were back again. There was no time to be glad about it, however, since the auto-pilot was not engaged.

"Abort the landing! Full thrust and pull up on the control yoke!"

So they did, the plane went up and then Conan retracted the wheels. It continued to climb, but the wind started to blow it off course, so that KID had to turn right, then bring up the nose of the airplane in order to avoid hitting the tower.

The plane shook violently, which was telltale enough that they _had _hit something. Apparently, they had lost an engine.

KID could not help but look to the ground. The flames were vicious, eating everything in sight in a macabre, wild dance, and gritted his teeth. It was a disturbing sight to see, for sure.

By the corner of his eye, he noticed the young boy turning to do the same thing. "Don't look!" the magician stopped him, right away.

Conan jumped at the urgency in his voice, his head snapping to look back at him. The sight of the unusual seriousness decorating his face made him comply, albeit hesitantly.

Luckily, the contact with the control tower remained, and they were told that there were no injuries at the tower. Conan sighed in relief after hearing that.

They were assured that three engines were enough to make a landing, and that it would be okay as long as they stayed balanced through it all.

But as it was now, they could only wait until the landing track was clear again. _That will take a while, _sighed Conan, imagining the chaos that was probably taking place at the tower.

"Conan-kun! "Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta burst through the door. "One of the engines-!"

"-fell off. Yeah, we know," Conan replied before their panic would escalate further. "We can make the landing, as long as we have enough-"

_Or maybe not_, Conan realized with a shudder. Hearing that abrupt halt, KID turned to see the display and gasped. "We're almost out of fuel?" he was confused.

"You said we're out of fuel?!" Ran's voice came from behind.

Sure enough, the girl had entered the cockpit, a startled Agasa and a panicking Sonoko trailing behind. Haibara was also there, calm despite the place they were at, as she observed the situation, standing close to a worried Shindo. Conan barely paid attention to all of them, in favour of scanning each and every single spot on the mode control panel, until he found out what was going on.

"The cross-feed valve is open?!"

He let KID to explain what that was to his friends, instead focusing on closing it before they lost even more fuel. Soon they realized that Ban must have pushed it by accident when he came by to carry the pilots out.

"There should be maps over there," he focused on his friends. "Someone bring them over!"

Ayumi was the first one to react, turning around and going to search for one. "Map, map, map..." she chanted, a bit of worry tinting her voice.

"Here you are."

Blinking, the girl looked up to see the young, male flight attendant standing right behind her, a kind smile in place and a book on his hands. Beaming, she practically tore it away from his grasp and handed it to Conan.

By the time the kid was flipping through the pages, desperately looking for a place to land at, the flight attendant was standing beside Ran and the group, a focused frown trained in his features as he watched the boy.

That action went unnoticed by most.

Except for Ran, who momentarily turned to him and stared.

There was something, something the girl couldn't put her finger on. The way he looked at Conan... it was different, in some strange way. It was somewhat familiar, somehow.

"Hey, Conan-kun!" all of sudden, Ayumi's voice rang through. "I know a place."

Some way or another, the destination ended up being Muroran. "Sakimori Pier!" he exclaimed, a tint of hope audible in his tone when he saw it. "We're just short of 60 meters, but if we let one side of the wings hover over the ocean-"

"Impossible," Haibara crossed her arms in front of her chest. "This plane should need more than 2000 meters of stopping distance. The integrity of the ground surface is also a problem..."

"We don't have much fuel, and there aren't many passengers," he reasoned. "The lighter we are, the shorter the stopping distance. Depending on the wind direction, it may be even shorter."

"Ah!" Mitsuhiko perked up. "According to the weather report I saw at Haneda Airport, they said strong winds from the west will blow throughout the flight!"

Conan smiled, widely after hearing that, realizing that the pier stretched east to west. "As long as we head into the west wind and land from the east, we may just be able to-!"

"It's impossible," KID's voice interrupted him. "When we collided with the control tower earlier, I took a strong blow to my left arm. I've been mostly controlling the plane using only my right hand ever since. If we're going to land manually, I'll need to hold on to the control yoke tightly with both hands."

Silence took over once more, as the realization that they were most likely not going to make it. _Damn it, _cursed the boy, while glaring at the map on his lap as if it was the cause of their imminent death. _Is there... Is there really nothing we can do?!_

His fists clenched, doing his best to block out the noise of his friends ─ Ayumi was beginning to sob, and the boys were beginning to panic. _Are we really going to die here?_

_... There are things I still have to do, _closing his eyes, he tried to get his mind to search for a solution, but he couldn't. Not when his mind would drift away from focus, playing over and over again those times he laughed with his friends, Ran, everyone...

_Is this over, for real?_

Finally, Shinichi's smile popped on his mind, and he gritted his teeth.

The flight attendant studied him for a few more minutes, frowning deeper, before taking a deep breath. "Alright," clapping his hands, he gathered the attention from everyone in the room. "Enough panicking, everyone. Time to make some rearrangements."

They all blinked, especially when he walked closer to the young boy and plucked out the book from his lap. "Let's see..." his eyes roamed across the room, before they fell on a certain person. "You," Ran jumped, startled, when the young man pointed at him. "You're taking the kid's place."

"Eh... But..." either way, he passed her the map, and she was forced to take it.

"Hey!" the little boy shouted, annoyed. "You can't just-! _Hey!_"

The reason his complaint was interrupted suddenly was that he was suddenly raised several feet on the air by the hood of his shirt. "Let me go!" he shouted, already tickled off, as he tried to get away from the flight attendant's grasp, yet no avail. It only seemed to amuse him, if anything.

"You take him," he passed the boy to a startled Agasa, who clumsily held him from the back of his shirt as well, as if he was just a puppy, before turning to Shindo. "Please, transfer everyone on the second floor downstairs."

"Hey-!"

The next moment, it was silent.

A hand on top of his head had, inexplicably, made the child pause and calm down. Shocked into quietness, his bright, _wide _blue eyes blinked owlishly as they fell into the young man's face, who was gazing back at him with an oddly warm, tender look.

A warm and tender look that he could have _sworn _he knew like the back of his hand.

"It will be okay, don't worry about it," there was a sweet smile that caused the kid, for reasons nobody would be able to understand, to let his arms drop at his sides, giving up fighting. "Just make sure..."

Then, he learned forward, hand shielding his mouth as he whispered:

"... to protect that little princess, okay?"

Shock was written all over the young boy's face, staring at the flight attendant grin, before turning around.

"I'll take over," he said to KID who just nodded, before letting him take his place.

The smirk adorning KID's face as he exchanged looks with the young man was the last thing Conan saw before Agasa took him out the room. Once out, he let him free to walk with the group ─ minus Sonoko, who wanted to stay with Ran ─ as they began to head downstairs.

Only then, his mind caught with what that guy had said. His eyebrow twitched, annoyed. _What's wrong with him, always saying that weird stuff?_ he glanced at Haibara, who didn't seem to notice. _Calling her a princess and all that..._

Giving another glance over his shoulder, he let out a long sigh. There was one, one single thing he was absolutely sure of.

His luck must definitely be rotten, for _all _of this to be happening in a single flight.

* * *

A/N:

CherryGirl 6-21: I'm not completely sure. I'm kind of tempted to cover some movies related to the Organization (and maybe another one related to KID) but I don't want to drag this story _even _further if it's not strictly related to this plot... And about the burning tower, it's the Nishitamashi Twin Towers from movie 5. In this story, it was shown on TV. Even if I never said KID saw him, explicitly, until now, Shinichi _was_ watching it, so...

ajjr12: Thanks for the suggestion! Though, I still have something in mind for that.

Gamergail: Thank you for pointing that out! I actually wrote most of it in my phone, and for some reason it autocorrected that word as 'poodle', for reasons I'll never be able to comprehend, so yeah that was a bit embarrassing XD

Also, I don't think I properly explained this, but actually Shinichi is around 9 to 10 years older than Conan (exactly 9 years and 6 months, considering their birthdays in May and November, if I'm not doing my math wrong) in this story. That makes Shinichi around 17, soon-to-be 18. And since third-grader students in high school are aged between 17 and 18, I thought it made sense if they are still in school. Sorry for the confusion I generated, and sorry if you preferred me answering via DM but I wanted to clarify this since I forgot to do it before.


	65. By Your Real Name

**File Sixty-Five: By Your Real Name**

"Ladies and gentlemen," Shindo's voice resounded from the speakers. "There has been a small accident on the plane. We will be diverting to New Chitose Airport. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for understanding..."

"We're really going to Muroran, right?" Genta grinned, only to get scolded by Mistuhiko and Ayumi for being too loud.

Conan gave his friends a blank look before sighing, heavily, and resting his head against his open hand. _With all of this, I have lost sight of that man in black, _he studied every single seat in sight, only to see several, ordinary people either worrying or wondering what was going on. _Haibara-san must be out of sight, however, so we should be safe, _after all, she was sitting right beside the window, next to Ayumi, Agasa, Genta, Mitsuhiko and he sat beside them, in a long row of seats.

All of sudden, a chill seemed to run through Haibara's back, if the violent shivering or the way she turned to stare through the window despite the darkness outside was something to go by. Before he could even say or do something, Conan spotted something on the corner of his eye. Something _black._

Sure enough, that person he was looking for was calmly making his way to the stairs, passing by him in the process. _There you are, _he frowned, quietly slipping away from his seat when the man disappeared from his sight.

"Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko whispered at him, with some sort of urgency. "Where are you going?"

"Won't be long," he replied, rushedly. "Stay here with everyone, alright?"

"Conan-kun!" he hushed, a bit more firmer this time, but deflated against his seat when the boy seemed to pay no mind and bolted off.

Worry etching his features, the freckled boy turned to see his friends. Haibara was still staring intently at the window, the others seemed to be chatting between each other. Nobody seemed to realize their friend had rushed off somewhere.

Somewhere dangerous, if his gut could be trusted.

_Where? _meanwhile, the boy in question had reached the second floor, lightly gasping because of the exertion ─ he had rushed upstairs in record time, so being exhausted should be expected. _Where is he?_

Warily, he moved more to the center, doing his best to ignore Juri's body, sitting there and covered by a white cloth. _Did he hide in any of the washrooms? _he glanced at the one on the back, before setting his gaze in the one in the front. _He could have gone to the cockpit, too..._

He hoped not.

Either way, he decided to check things out and try to hear through the door, so he could check for any weird sounds. He didn't get far, however, when it opened all of sudden and KID stolled out, a severe expression plastered all over his face.

"Oh," he noticed him, and all seriousness disappeared with a grin. "You shouldn't be here, naughty, naughty kid..."

Conan blinked, watching the thief getting closer to the plug door. "What-?"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

The sight of Sonoko running after him only confused the boy further. It only got more prominent, when all of sudden KID told them to grab onto something and _opened _the door.

He was almost knocked off his feet, but managed to stand upright by holding into a nearby seat, despite the blow of air that suddenly hit them. Sonoko screamed, Conan scowled.

"What are you doing, KID?!" the kid shouted.

"Eh...?" the girl blinked, before looking up. Upon seeing KID standing there, wearing his pristine white suit, she gaped. "Eh?!"

Conan paid no mind to her, and stepped further, closer to the thief. "You're not thinking of bailing, are you?!"

KID's smirk widened, causing him to boil. "You-!" he, impulsively, was about to lunge at him.

It all came into a halt the moment he _felt _something. Something cold, metallic ─ which he recognized right away ─ pressed against his temple and made beads of sweat to roll down his forehead. A familiar _click _sounded far too close to his ear, and caused a chill to travel down his spine.

Sonoko backed off. "Conan-kun!" she shouted, completely scared, about something the kid could not see, but could easily imagine.

"If you don't want a hole in this kid's head..." a gruff voice sounded behind Conan, who wouldn't do anything but stare at KID's deepening frown, frozen in place. "... you will hand the Jewel of Destiny over."

_The man in black, _Conan's brain quickly filled for him.

"Don't play dumb, I just checked in that dead woman's finger. It was fake," the man continued. "Give me the real one and we won't have to deal with a dead kid abroad."

Even if he wanted to, Conan was sure the thief wouldn't give it away because _he had none. _Which meant that, if he didn't think of something fast, he would most likely be dead _before _this plane could touch the ground.

But what could he do? He couldn't even move a finger. Not when that thing was still on his head.

He really, _really _didn't like guns.

"As much as I'd love to save this intrepid young boy from a head wound of nefarious nature, I'm afraid I can't hand the Jewel of Destiny over to you," he replied, with a mocking smile. "Since there was never one aboard."

"Do you think I will buy that?" he scoffed.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you didn't, but I can't really talk with you now... It's late, and I haven't even taken the trash out yet."

"Huh?"

When the magician stepped aside, Conan's eyes widened upon seeing the phone ─ the one that served as a communication to the cockpit ─ hanging from the receiver by the cord.

"Tango-India-Lima-Tango!" the thief exclaimed. "Now!"

Before anyone could tell what was going on, the floor they were standing at tilted violently, as a result of such a reckless move from the pilot, making the man who was holding Conan to lose his balance.

Sonoko, who had barely managed to catch herself, was horrified to see Conan, that man and KID stumbling down the plane, into a 5000 meter-fall.

And, from his spot close to the stairs, Mitsuhiko screamed, having witnessed it all.

The air furiously hitting Conan in the face barely allowed him to see much, but had noticed that throughout their fall the gun had slipped from the man's grasp ─ to which he would have been incredibly grateful of hadn't he been plummeting down to the ground without a parachute.

Yet, all at once, he wasn't falling anymore. An arm wrapped itself on his torso and then he felt himself going upwards. KID was holding him, grinning as he looked down at the man from before, holding a parachute bag on his other ─ briefly Conan wondered where he had gotten that, but considering he was both a magician and a thief he decided he was better off not knowing.

"Catch," with a cheerful tone, he let the bag drop.

It was almost comical how the man desperately moved through the air, until he finally took it. By the time the parachute had been put into use, KID had already flown away from him.

"Phew, that was close," KID sighed, looking down at the child. "Try not to pull this up again, okay?"

"As if I was begging to get taken hostage."

The thief let out a laugh, which annoyed his companion even more, huffing and looking back to the plane. Once out of sight, the magician's smile dropped, and looked ahead again.

_Tantei-kun is still shaking, _he had realized with a shudder.

It was disturbing, to say the least, to see _this _fearless, reckless kid so scared. Certainly, he would never forget the way his eyes had gone wide in horror, or the sweat that had started to make its way down his sickly pale, white face, but if there was something he would always remember was the fact that he hadn't shown a single sign of surprise.

As if he had been in that situation before, more than once.

"Take me back."

"Eh?"

"Take me _back _to the _plane_," he stressed out, growing more impatient the more time he stayed out.

"This is a _hang glider. _I don't have an engine, Tantei-kun."

"... How come someone like _you _never thought of adding an engine?"

KID did his best not to glare at him.

"Either way," the kid continued. "I can't just-!"

"Even if you were there, there's little you can do."

"Are we going to just _watch_?!"

"In your case, yeah. You will stay quiet like a good child," a smirk crossed his face. "While _I _do all the work."

Conan merely raised an eyebrow.

"You see the pier over there? It's a bit too dark for anyone to land there, right?" the kid did not reply, wondering what he was trying to get at. "I'll show you a magic trick. In less than a second, lights will guide all your friends home, safe and sound."

The young boy had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

* * *

"What are you doing?!" shouted Ran, who hadn't yet put on her headsets, still holding into her seat with her two hands, even if the plane had already been stabilized.

"Sorry, my hands slipped," he grinned, sheepishly.

"Geez, be more careful..."

After apologizing again, the girl focused back on the dark night outside, and only then did he let his smile drop. _What was all about?_

Since he had come to live under the same roof as the thief, the boy had learned that Kaito was clever, maybe as much as he was. His ideas would be dangerous most of the time, but they ended up working out.

What did he need him to tilt the plane for? He didn't see any sense to it.

_Unless he met with Snake, _he honestly hoped not.

All of sudden, the door to the cockpit bursted open. "Conan-kun fell off!" they didn't expect Mitsuhiko, of all people, to shout, panic showing in his pale face. "He fell off the plane!"

"What?!" both Ran and the flight attendant cried in shock.

"He's right!" Sonoko appeared right behind the kid, looking more or less shaken than him.

Then she did her best to explain the story to them, despite the quivering voice, or the panic cursing through her veins. They did understand most of the rushed chain of words, somehow, and got a better grasp of the situation.

"It will be okay," the older boy assured them, with a confident smile. "You said that Shinjo-san was KID, right? I heard he never lets people die, and has a hang glider and everything. The kid must be safer than any of us at this very moment."

Both girls and little boy exchanged words, taking into consideration what he had just said, but unable to feel calm about it.

"Anyway, you should go back to your seat, kid," he then turned to Sonoko. "Suzuki-san, you should get going downstairs. We're going to land soon."

"But Ran..."

Ran offered her a smile. "I'll be just fine," she assured her best friend. "Go, Sonoko."

The girl gave her one last look, before giving up and nodding, heading back to the passenger cabin with the child in tow. Once she was gone, Ran let out a long sigh, before turning to the pilot.

She frowned slightly, and he worried.

"How did you know Sonoko's last name?"

He genuinely hoped he didn't flinch as bad as he thought he did.

"I... I saw her on TV," he let out a strangled laugh. "Her family is well known all over the world, so-"

"Why?"

All of his words came into a sudden halt.

"Why do you keep lying to me?"

His smile instantly vanished into nothing the moment her eyes fell on her lap, where her fists rested, clenching.

"Even now, you keep telling everyone that we will be fine, but I can see your hands are shaking..."

"Ran..."

"You always do that! Time and time again when I see you, you say you will be back soon, that you're just in a case... But a year has passed since you left," her eyes closed shut. "Don't you see I worry?! We _all _worry about you!"

Silence was her only answer. The boy beside her was quietly thoughtful, and she didn't dare to look at him. She could tell he was gazing at her, with those pained eyes that hid far too much for her liking, undoubtedly feeling guilty of hurting so many people, but resigned to keep that up.

Yet, did it matter, really? They were most likely going to die in less than five minutes now.

She opened her eyes, and a tender smile crossed her face. If he wasn't going to be honest with her, she would do it instead.

"I..." this would be her last chance to _say _it. "I like you, Shinichi."

At that moment, Shinichi was far too conscious of the fact that his voice had suddenly died down in his throat, and how stupid he must have looked _staring _at her, eyes threatening to bulge out his sockets. He knew he ought to say something ─ those words he had dreamed of hearing ever since he could remember coming from _that _girl...

But as things were now, he could only gape, like a fish out of water.

"R-Ran..." he managed, after a couple of agonizing seconds. "I-!"

"There's light..."

"... Huh?"

"Look at that, Shinichi! There are red lights moving around like an obi!"

Instantly, Shinichi looked down and was shocked to see that, indeed, red lights were making their way around the pier, circling the entire place until it resembled a runway for a plane.

The high school detective smirked.

"Ran, we'll begin landing preparations," he stated, confusing the girl for a second. "Those lights are probably the patrol cars that KID lured there."

It took her by surprise, but soon she nodded and looked back to the front, a focused frown trained on her features.

* * *

"So _this _was your trick."

KID didn't even look back at the child he was holding in his arms, just snickered a bit at the sight of the entire police, plus Inspector Nakamori, going crazy looking for him, even if he was standing right there, in the light pole, shielded by darkness.

"Impressed?"

"Hardly. That was not a magic trick, just a stunt you pulled off at the nick of time."

"It might be, but the path is lighted up now, isn't it?"

Conan decided not to argue, far too preoccupied on the airplane that was descending right in front of his eyes.

The police were running now, finally having taken notice of the plane coming their way.

It _had _to work. _Please..._

_Please make it work, Onii-chan._

* * *

When the girl pulled down the gear level, a loud beeping startled them both. They looked at the display and understood right away.

"Shinichi," stated Ran, eyes narrowing. "Looks like we're out of fuel."

The boy nodded in return, focusing back on the road ahead. "There won't be any second chances," he informed her. "It's one shot, do or die."

So, the plane continued to go down, shaking more than strictly necessary, but descending in a steady rhythm. Despite it all, he tightened his grip against the yoke and endured it.

It _had _to work.

"_Please make it work, Onii-chan," _another voice, different from his own, intruded his thoughts, like lightning on the ground.

Maybe he had imagined it, he honestly didn't know, yet it made his conviction stronger. Not only the lives of many people were in his hands. Not only Ran sat beside him, and others he couldn't afford to lose were on that very plane...

He also had a brother. A young child that had suffered more than he should have. Whose only friends and more-or-less adoptive family was also depending on him.

And that boy was waiting for _him_.

The wheels hit one of the patrol cars parked around the pier, but his grip remained firm, lowering the nose. Next, a reverse thrust.

_So that boy doesn't have to suffer anymore, _his fingers curved round the lever. _So that Conan..._

Fingers resting on top of his hand caused him to momentarily look at his side. Ran was nodding at him, with a comforting, even if a bit tight smile, which he returned.

Like so, the two of them pulled.

_Stop... _Shinichi gritted his teeth. _Stop, stop!_

_Stop... _Ran begged. _Stop, stop!_

_Just... _Conan tensed, hands clenching as he helplessly watched from outside. _Just stop!_

KID gasped, however, upon the realization that there was a crane right in front of them and wondered if he should just take the child away before he could witness such a terrible accident, but then Shinchi seemed to press the rudder, because the airplane suddenly changed course.

It finally came to a stop, colliding against a dune of sand. In a single piece.

Only then, did Conan let the breath he had been holding. "He did it..." he sighed, mumbling more to himself than to the thief. "He really did it."

Letting another breath out of his system, he placed his hand on top of his chest, closing his eyes as in an attempt to get himself back into control. _It felt like my heart was about to burst, really, _he admitted to himself. In fact, even now it felt like it would jump out of his ribcage in any second.

_So that must be how he feels every single time I get into trouble, _somehow, he felt like he could understand his brother, just a tiny bit more. _It's quite... the unpleasant feeling, isn't it?_

He didn't seem to notice the small, tender smile adorning his features, though.

KID glanced at the grinning child briefly before looking back at the airplane. _Well done, Meitantei, _he felt the corners of his lips tugging a bit upwards. _I knew you could do it._

_Well now, since you finished your job, it's my time to do the same, correct?_

So, he wasn't really that stunned when he felt a pair of small hands grasping his arm, with an iron grip. Or the seriousness in the miniature detective as he looked at him.

"My, what has gotten into you, all of sudden?" he didn't let his mocking smile vanish, though. "Are you _still _going to capture me, after everything we went through?"

His frown deepened. "No, I'll let you off the hook for now," KID smiled when he said that. "_Only _if you answer my question."

He didn't need a remainder, the magician was already aware of who the little boy meant, but didn't let his smile drop.

"Sorry, that's confidential," he stated. "That's nothing a young little detective should know about."

"Then, the deal is off."

"Oh? And how do you plan to catch me?"

Conan didn't speak, just raised his wrist and went to point at him with his clock. His smirk dropped, however, when he tried to press the switch, and shock filled his every expression.

Because his watch was gone.

He didn't even get to wonder what had happened to it before he felt the prick on his neck. "Did you really forget, Tantei-kun?" he managed to hear through the darkness closing in on him. "I'm a _thief._"

Just like that, Conan felt himself sinking in a sea of black ink.

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't seen him?!" her father's voice boomed through the entire place.

"Calm down, Mouri-kun," Agasa did his best to have him to calm down, before he would hit someone ─ namely Inspector Megure, who ended up in the receiving end of his anger just now. "I'm sure they are doing their best-"

"A _child _fell from a _plane! _Why aren't we _all _looking for him right now?!"

"Listen, you need to get checked-" tried Megure.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! I don't need to get checked!"

The four children watching the entire exchange looked at each other, concern etching each part of their faces, silently wondering where their friend was.

Ran sighed heavily, letting her hand fall on her lap, fingers wrapped loosely around her phone. _His phone still off, _she frowned, tightening her other hand gripping, tightly, the comfort blanket. _Shinichi said he would be okay, but..._

"Blood pressure and pulse are both normal," stated the paramedic standing close to her. "You seem fine to me, but we'll take you to the hospital just to be sure."

"Thank you very much," she nodded, eyes not straying away from her father, who now angrily arguing with another poor paramedic. "But I can't go."

"Oh, is that about that child?"

"Right! I won't go anywhere until I find-"

"Ah, speaking of which, I have something to deliver."

"Eh?"

Before she could even look at him, something was set on her lap, causing her to scramble to catch it before it could fall. Glancing downwards, she was beyond shocked that it was not a '_something', _but rather a breathing, _living_ being. "Conan-kun!" she gasped, after taking a better look at the sleeping boy.

"He passed out before I could catch him," her head snapped to the source, only to see a wide, shark-like grin flashed at her. "But he will be okay."

"K-Ka..." she stuttered.

"Well then," he said, with a bow. "Until we meet again-"

Before he could add another word, the magician felt _pain, _on his right cheek, momentarily dazing him enough for him to stumble backwards. "KAITO KID!" before he could even register the fact that the girl had punched him, _hard, _on the face ─ or admire the way she had done it without disturbing the slumbering child she was cradling ─ Ran had shouted, pointing at him with his free hand. "That man is Kaito KID!"

"What?!" Inspector Nakamori's attention was instantly on them.

She tried not to laugh too loud at the sight of the thief taking off running, panic settling on his face as he disappeared, the police following close. _That's what he gets, _she smiled, settling Conan into a more comfortable position. _For leaving a kid alone on top of a moving train._

"Conan-kun...? Look, it's Conan-kun!"

"Conan! What did you think you were doing, acting so cool?!"

"Conan-kun, are you okay?!"

It was almost endearing, how the four children were instantly at his side, surprise morphing into worry when they realized he wasn't replying. Undoubtedly concerned, they called his name again.

"He's just unconscious," Ai's calm voice broke through the panic before Ran could say anything. "It happens sometimes when someone falls from such a high height."

"Oh," they chorused, blinking owlishly.

Giggling a bit, the older girl assured them that their friend would be alright, but pointed out that it would be best if they left him to rest for the moment ─ she could imagine the discomfort that it would bring him waking up to realize that four set of eyes, beside hers, were staring right into his soul ─ to which they nodded, rushing to tell Agasa and Kogoro what had happened.

Running a hand through his hair, Ran couldn't help the smile that drew itself on her lips while gazing at the young boy resting peacefully against her leg. _We all are safe, aren't we? _she let her shoulders drop at the realization. _Or so I think. That stupid detective had already run off somewhere by the time I woke up at the cockpit..._

_... That idiot, after I said all that..._

Her cheeks glowed red at the realization of what she had done.

The child shifted, causing her to jump slightly, jolted out of her own thoughts. Upon realizing that it was just him moving on his sleep, she sighed.

"... catch you..." that was what she could make up from the mumbled, jumbled string of words came out of his mouth. "... KID..."

_KID? _she blinked slowly before gasping. _Could it be that KID-?!_

Her phone started to ring, abruptly, and the girl instantly picked it up. "That call of earlier wasn't from you," she didn't even give him the chance to speak. "Was it, Shinichi?!"

"... Eh?"

"I knew it! That Shinichi earlier was KID!"

"Hey, Ran-"

"But wait, Sonoko had said that Shinjo-san was KID, if KID was with us the entire time..."

"That's-"

"I got it! The one that was with me was actually KID's apprentice!"

Shinichi did his best not to let her know that sentence right now had badly offended him. "What?" so he settled with that plain answer.

His eyes were heavy, that was the first realization that came to the child the moment he began to resurface from the dark void of unconsciousness. _Really need to stop getting hit with my own darts, _and that was the first fully coherent sentence that crossed his mind, while his dull senses slowly came back to him.

"Thank goodness it wasn't you, Shinichi!" he heard Ran shout, relieved for some reason ─ was _he_ there?

When he finally managed to get his eyes to open, Conan realized that he wasn't. Slowly, he noticed that his cheek was resting against Ran's lap, so he turned to glance at her.

There was a bright smile on her face, as she held her phone close to her chest. "Safe," she sighed. "So close, but safe!"

"... Safe from what?" he wondered out loud. "Is that about the plane or...?"

Her eyes instantly darted to him and her smile widened even further. "Conan-kun, you're awake!" she exclaimed, as he lazily sat up. "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

"I'm okay," he nodded, with a faint smile of his own. "And it looks like you all are okay as well."

"Yeah," she replied, looking ahead. "You should go tell your friends you're fine. Ai-chan and the others were very worried about you."

He turned to study his group of friends, who were talking with Agasa about something when, suddenly, Haibara glanced at his general direction, yet did not show any signs of acknowledging him beside the slight widening of her eyes. She said something, and the other three gazes fell on him.

A set of three bright smiles met him, which he replied with a small wave of his hand.

"... I don't think Haibara-san was too preoccupied," he said with a shrug. _I would be surprised if she was, honestly._

Ran gave the boy a brief look, before she chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What do _you _know?"

"I wouldn't expect a boy to understand."

Certainly, he did not get it. Blinking, confused, he gazed back at the young scientist in question, who was now talking with Ayumi, a small, barely noticeable smile drawn on her face.

For some reason, the bespectacled little boy frowned.

"Say, Ran-neechan," his voice came out soft, hesitant even. "Can... Can I ask you something?"

She was momentarily confused at the sound of his voice – he sounded genuinely shy, for some reason.

"What is it?" she took a glance at the direction he was gazing at, and felt her face breaking into a big smile. "Is this about Ai-chan?"

"... Of course not!" he tried not to let his embarrassment show, despite the pink hue noticeable on his cheeks. "It... It's about... _Genta._"

"Genta-kun?" Ran raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Shaking her head to side to side, Ran closed her mouth shut and waited for him to finally tell her what was in his mind. He gave him a side look, hesitant, and opened his mouth, taking her silence as a cue to talk.

"I kind... I kind of did something bad to him a long time ago. Like _really _bad," he shifted, uncomfortably. "I only found out about it recently."

"And you think this isn't something you can fix just by apologizing to her, right?"

"To _him._"

"_Him_, sorry."

The boy gave her a long, unconvinced look, before sighing. "He tried his best not to let me know what had happened," he confessed, eyes falling into his lap. "And she... _he _has stated more than once that he isn't mad. I believe him, but..."

Ran gave the child a thoughtful look, and stayed quiet for a moment. He watched his hands curling into fists, his serious gaze not leaving that random spot beside his feet, as if it currently was the most interesting thing to see in the entire world.

She could clearly see what the problem was even if she didn't know what exactly had caused it.

"If you really can't forgive yourself..." she began, after a while. "... You should think about it. Think about what you want to do ─ if you want to let it go, or if you want to do something about it."

The sight of his wide blue eyes suddenly fixing on her was both adorable and amusing, but managed to keep herself from giggling.

"Then approach her. _Talk _to her. Tell her how you feel," Ran could only smile at the clueless young boy. "Believe me, you will feel so much better once you do."

For the longest time, the kid said nothing, just stared back at her with his stunned gaze. Eventually, the surprise drained, he looked back at the ground and nodded.

When the boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Ran knew. She knew that he had already done all the thinking long before this conversation.

"Maybe it's a bit too late but..." he said in a quiet whisper. "After this, could I go visit Araide-sensei for a moment? I need to... ask him something."

The girl nodded, a smile still in place. She had an idea of what this kid might be thinking about.

* * *

After the ordeal they had gone through, Haibara had decided a shower was in order. Despite having managed to keep her face mostly straight for the whole duration of that terrifying trip, she figured she would have trouble sleeping.

Not only the thought of falling into their deaths ─ or learning that _Conan _had somehow managed to fall off from a plane ─ had been incredibly scary, but staying for hours to an end in the same room of someone that clearly had _their _scent had been beyond exhausting.

Not to say that she had been sweating a lot throughout it all ─ Haibara's nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought.

With a sigh, she opened the door to the living room, hoping that this night wouldn't become even harder for her, in one way or another.

What she didn't expect was what she saw in the middle of the room. Blinking, then blinking again for good measure, Haibara stared at the white and black little thing in front of her eyes.

It turned around and looked at her with bright, green eyes.

A kitten. There was a _kitten _in the Professor's living room.

She seriously needed some answers, like _right now._

"Ah, Haibara-san," she guessed that seeing a certain bespectacled boy kneeling in front of that kitten should have been expected.

'Unpredictability' and 'Kudo Conan' worked just like synonyms after all. She had learned this fact a long time ago ─ the hard way.

"Kudo-kun, just..." despite this, Haibara _stared_. "... _What_ are you doing?"

"Do you remember this cat? It's one of the kittens that Amamiya-san had tried to take care of."

Hesitantly, she moved closer to them. "She," she corrected him, absentmindedly, crouching down in front of him and close to the kitten. Only then, she noticed the small cat was drinking some milk.

"Araide-sensei couldn't get anyone to adopt this one," the boy continued, patting the kitten's head as he did so. "And Professor Agasa said he wanted to take her in."

Haibara's eyebrow rose, showing that she was not quite believing it.

"I'm telling the truth!" he argued. "Ran-neechan is with him right now. She said that she would help him organize his stuff so it wouldn't be a problem for this little one."

The girl didn't quite know how to react, staring at the boy with an indescribable expression on her face, until she felt something nuzzling against her side. She didn't need to look down to see who was responsible for this, but still did. As expected, the animal was nudging her head against her torso.

Smiling gently, she passed her fingers through the kitten's soft fur. Conan gazed at her, not quite realizing he was grinning as well.

"You never had a pet, even if you love animals," he commented, before fixing his gaze at the now empty milk plate. "It wouldn't be surprising, considering everything you have gone through."

"The past can't be changed, Kudo-kun," she stated, quietly, while closing her eyes. "I admit I was a bit mad when I figured it had been you... But you thought you were helping, in a way. You can't be blamed for it, it's not fair."

"I know... I know all that," Conan stated, eyes fixed on her. "But to pretend nothing has happened is not okay either."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you deaf?" she said to him. "I said you can't change the past."

"I'm aware that I can't," he was serious, deadly serious. "I can't go back and stop my brother from joining _them, _I can't bring your sister back and, certainly, I can't undo the fact that I caused you to live through all this, but..."

Something akin to determination glimmered behind his glasses.

"But I want to do what I can," he stated, with an earnest expression. "So that my brother can get his life back," then, he grinned so brightly that she feared she would go blind if she continued staring. "And so that you can have the life you deserve."

The stunned expression on Haibara's face only made him smile even more.

"Because... that's what Akemi-san would have wanted, right?"

She stared for a few more moments, perplexed at his words before she let out a weak, startled laugh, head dropping until her eyes met with the kitten, who was nestled comfortably at her side.

_You have a good heart, Kudo-kun. And, indeed, it's soft. Incredibly soft._

_But I have to admit I was wrong. You are strong. _

_So unbelievably strong that I..._

"Say, may I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What's your name?"

Haibara bit her lip, hesitating, absently caressing the feline as she seemed to debate with herself her next words. Conan waited patiently, until her movements came into a stop and she let out a heavy sigh.

Her next words came out in a soft, barely audible whisper:

"Shiho."

For a moment more than necessary, the boy stayed quiet, as if letting that new name register in his mind.

"... Shiho-san, huh?"

"Please, don't. Don't call me that."

Conan seemed confused at first, but looking at her uncomfortable posture, he could sort of tell. The fear, the sadness ─ she looked as if someone would jump at her by hearing that name, even though they were all alone.

Which was... rather sad, Conan realized. That girl had used many, many names to get by, so to think that she would feel so afraid of being called by her own.

... It wasn't right.

Despite this, he chose not to say anything about it. He closed his eyes for a minute and sighed.

"Ai-san then," immediately after that, Haibara's head shot up, perplexed eyes glued on him. He only let out an unusually sweet smile. "Until the day I can call you by your real name."

Blinking once more at the boy, her bewilderment dimmed and her mouth, that hung a bit open, closed to let the tips of her lips, little by little, twitch upwards, mirroring his expression without her fully realizing it.

_... At times like this, I can't help but wish..._

_Wish I was a bit more like you._

"So," he just sat there, on the cold floor, eyes falling back on the kitten slumbering, contendly, on her side. "Aren't you going to name her?"

"I thought she belonged to the Professor."

"I don't trust him to name this poor creature. You do it instead."

She looked at her for a few moments. "Conan," she declared.

"Hey, you can't just-!"

"Just kidding, she's a _girl_. Besides, even if she wasn't, I still wouldn't. That name is cursed."

"Hey, hey..."

"Her name is Lucy now, in fact."

Conan's head tilted, considering it for a moment. "That's actually a cool-"

"Short for Lucifer."

"... Forget what I said. Here, I'll help you out."

"But you can't use any names you saw in any mystery book."

"Fine... I'll look for some on the internet."

It was closer to one in the morning that Ran and Agasa finished tidying the place up and went to the living room to check on Conan and the new cat. When they did, however, they stopped on their tracks, blinked at the scene, before smiling at each other.

Because, sprawled on the couch, two children were dozing, completely unaware of the people staring at them. Conan's phone on the floor, after having been dropped from fingers gone slack. The kitten was curled up in Ai's lap, the girl's fingers still resting on top of her fur.

But there was something in common between the two.

The two children, even in sleep, were smiling as they slumbered away, peaceful at last.

* * *

A/N:

Gamergail: Well, I wouldn't really consider myself a gamer. I like games a lot, but I'm more casual about it, so to say. And about the PM thing, yeah, my mistake. I was going to put 1 PM in there, then changed my mind because I thought it was a bit too much (and because I forgot to change the P for the A, it ended up being _much _later lol!) Thank you for letting me know!

CherryGirl 21-6: Yeah, I really like that pairing too! Don't know if I'll be able to put any moments for those two here, but I might try... For my part however, I'm positive they're going to be together at the end of the series. I mean, it wouldn't make sense if Gosho made all those moments together so just they didn't end together at the end (or maybe I'm just hoping here, I don't know XD)

ajjr12: Yeah, probably, I don't know. Will see about it later.


	66. The Sister That Never Came Back

**File Sixty-Six: The Sister That Never Came Back**

Conan felt relief washing over him the moment the doctor waved them goodbye and Ran closed the door behind them.

"Now, it wasn't that bad, was it, Conan-kun?" the girl smiled down at him.

He huffed, annoyed, causing her to giggle due to her amusement.

When Araide had heard everything that had happened to him the time Conan went to pick the kitten up for Haibara, he had been a tad worried. But when he had been told by Ran that the boy had passed out and hadn't woken up until roughly fifteen minutes later, Araide had instantly rushed to check on him, stating that staying out for so long was absolutely _not _normal.

Since he hadn't found anything wrong, and the kid kept insisting he was okay, he had been forced to let go. Not without telling Ran that it would be advisable to have another doctor see him first thing in the morning, just to be on the safe side.

Conan had been very vocal when letting her know that he didn't want to go and that he was _fine_.

Which wasn't a lie, yet he couldn't just tell everyone he had been sedated with his own tranquilizer dart... _That _would be hard to explain ─ not to say, highly embarrassing.

Anyway, the doctor had assured them he was perfectly fine ─ _obviously_ ─ so he figured things would be okay for the moment.

"A brat will always be a brat," groaned Sonoko. "Making so much of a fuss for nothing..."

Sonoko was with them as well, much in her ─ and _his _─ displeasure. She had been supposed to hang out with Ran that day, but her friend had declined it in order to take Conan to a doctor ─ her father would be out the entire day, so he wouldn't be able to do it instead.

So, in order not to disappoint her any further, Ran had suggested going to go do something fun after, and Sonoko had accepted, even if she didn't particularly enjoy the kid's company ─ a feeling that was mutual, in fact.

It was getting close to midday and they were getting hungry, therefore Ran suggested that they could go to a good hamburger shop that had opened nearby.

"Well," Sonoko suddenly said. "Why not invite him to come along?"

"Who?"

"That clumsy boy over there."

To say that Conan was beyond shocked at the sight of Hondou Eisuke there, photo in hand, frantically asking a poor doctor about something was the understatement of the year.

... Though, to say that Conan was absolutely _not _surprised at the sight of him backing up upon seeing them there, colliding with an unlucky fellow in a wheelchair might as well be the understatement of the _century._

"Why are you two here?" Eisuke asked when they rushed to him, asking him if he was okay.

"... It's a bit of a long story," laughed Ran nervously.

Long story indeed ─ Conan still couldn't get around the idea of _that _much happening in a single plane trip, but it made him wonder if he had gathered even _more _bad luck by sticking close with this guy.

Hesitantly ─ as if he would be struck by lightning, _again, _if he so much stood near to him ─ he moved closer to the group. At that moment, he noticed the photograph Eisuke had been holding before, and frowned slightly at the person in there.

It was a younger Mizunashi Rena, smiling at the camera.

_As I feared, this guy figured out she might have been taken to a hospital, _he continued staring at it. _And now, he's looking for her._

A hand crossed his line of view ─ Sonoko was picking the picture up. "Isn't this Mizunashi Rena?" the Suzuki heiress blinked, and Ran nodded, questioning the same thing as well.

"Ah, no, actually..." Eisuke got up from the floor instantly. "That's my sister."

Conan's eyes darted to the boy, instantly.

"Your sister?" Ran was surprised.

"No way!" and Sonoko couldn't believe it. "You're that announcer's brother?!"

"N-No. Even though they look alike, they're different people. Their names are different, too."

Apparently, she had left home ten years ago and he hadn't heard from her ever since. Because she had always wanted to be a nurse, Eisuke had latched in that only clue and had started looking for her in hospitals.

"Also, my sister saved me many times in hospitals. No matter what, I'll never forget."

"Saved you?" Ran asked.

"When I was young, besides being clumsy I was sick a lot. Every time, my sister would carry me to the hospital," there was a soft smile on his face as he reminisced those easier, happier days. "Whenever I was bleeding from my injuries, she would say '_God gave you this blood type that you can share with anyone, so treasure it always'_. But in the end, it was my sister who always gave me her blood."

Eisuke then told them he had been involved in an accident, and that she had given him a lot of her blood. "Every time my heart beats I can feel it," gently, he placed a hand on his own chest. "My sister's kindness."

That had been the last time he had seen her. After he had been discharged, she had disappeared without a trace.

"I don't know why she left. But with all my heart, I want to see her again and thank her. She's the reason I'm still alive."

His desire to see her sister once again sounded genuine in the child's ears. Far too sincere, too pure for him to say a word, to question him further, to do anything else but to stare at him, a thoughtful look behind his glasses.

"But you know, that's just like us," mistaking the startled look he gave her, after being pulled off his thoughts so violently, as confusion, she continued. "Remember, I gave you a lot of my blood that one time."

_More than once, _he realized upon remembering that his mother had said she had donated her blood when he was shot the first time, when his brother had been injured thus rendered unable to do so.

Ran smiled. "Can you feel my kindness?"

He gave him a jerky nod, not quite expecting that.

Because he did, actually, smiling a bit to himself once he was out of sight. He might not remember the first time, but he certainly wouldn't forget the sight of her upon waking up the next morning, fast asleep for giving him too much.

Well, his brother had done the best he could, comforting him the best he could at night, even if he wouldn't show his face at the time, even when Conan had chased him through the hospital.

Yeah, he had been desperate to _see _him one more time. From the moment he had disappeared, he had searched, chasen him, done his best and beyond to know what had happened. To _find _him.

And when he had nowhere to look, no clue left whatsoever to keep searching...

"_It's okay if you want to cry," _he remembered Ayumi's sweet voice from that time, that seemed to be an eternity ago, when his friends had asked him if something had happened to Shinichi and he had broken in tears, for the first time.

His mind went back to that time at the bridge, when he had witnessed Eisuke crying. Probably feeling frustrated upon the realization that the case in hand had absolutely nothing to do with Mizunashi Rena.

Now, had Conan said he couldn't draw a parallel between both situations, he would have been blatantly lying.

"But still," Sonoko asked Eisuke. "How can you be so sure Mizunashi Rena and your sister aren't the same person?"

"Well, she just can't be..."

To Conan, everything would have made so much sense if she was actually his sister, but there was a reason Eisuke was so sure. He was _certain _she wasn't her.

If Mizunashi Rena and Eisuke's sister weren't the same person, all that was left was that Kir had killed her, then undergone plastic surgery so she would resemble her. _Why would she do that? _his best guess was that it was all related to Eisuke's father and _The Company_.

... But it wouldn't explain why Rena had cried at the sight of a young little boy, that resembled 'her younger brother.' Unless she was just pretending ─ _why would she?_

Conan sighed, exhausted, forcing himself to just _stop ─ _his brain would explode if he kept going over the many, many possibilities.

* * *

"What?" said Kogoro in a shocked whisper. "Anno's phone number was changed? That shouldn't be! He just called me for a mahjong earlier."

"But when I called, it wasn't him. Did he say he was moving?"

Kogoro withheld a sigh ─ this was definitely _not _the time to talk, and why did she want to talk about that crazy Mizunashi Rena's fanboy all of sudden? It made no sense.

"Dad?"

"A-Ah, right. Why don't you go to his mother's house and ask? It's close to where you are," he said, quickly. "I'll send you the address to your phone, I can't talk right now."

Ran paused, confused. "I thought you went to the race rack," she whispered, low enough so nobody but her father would hear. "It's too quiet there. Where are you, Dad?"

"I..." Kogoro sighed. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"... Be careful," hesitant, she said to him.

Assuring her he would be alright one last time, Kogoro hung up and walked closer to Megure. "How is it going?" he asked the inspector, who was staring intently at the screen of his computer.

"Look at this, Mouri-kun. This man over here."

He leaned closer and what he saw caused his eyes to widen slightly. Kogoro watched a man, dressed all in black, walk towards the counter. The poor worker, assuming he was going to do a check in, looked up, radiant. For some reason, the worker seemed to grow pale, her kind smile dissolving into a terrified expression.

The man passed through, just like that.

"This was caught on camera at the airport where you guys were the other day," the inspector explained. "When questioned about it, that worker kept quiet until she couldn't hold it any longer. She confessed that this man threatened her with a gun under his coat, and said that if she didn't let him through without telling anyone, his men would kill her family."

"But she looked scared just by looking at him."

"That's because she recognized him. He's quite famous," with that, he set aside some files until he found the one he was looking for. Kogoro was met with the sight of a man with a horseshoe mustache and a cold glare looking at the camera. "He's an international-known jewel thief that goes by the name of Jackal."

"Jackal," he repeated, as if in an afterthought. "Not alcohol-related, huh?"

"Huh?" Megure was confused. "What does it have to do with that?"

"The other time I was drinking, it came to me... That the word 'Jin' that the brat mentioned sounded a lot like 'Gin'," Kogoro explained, causing the other man to gasp. "Considering that other person was 'Singani', it would totally fit with the theme..." sighing heavily, Kogoro passed a hand through his hair. "But to have someone called 'Jackal'..."

"Don't need to get ahead of ourselves, Mouri-kun," shaking his head, Megure closed the computer and looked at him in the eye. "We don't even know if Jackal has something to do with _that _case. Most likely, Conan-kun just ended up as an unlucky hostage that was in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

... That wouldn't be surprising, actually.

Even if that seemed to be the most likely explanation, the Great Detective gazed out the window with a frown deeply carved in his features, unable to understand that weird feeling in his gut that insisted that something simply didn't fit.

* * *

The reason why Eisuke had been so adamant of Mizunashi Rena being a different person than her sister came out into the light later that day when talking with Anno, Kogoro's friend and the newscaster's biggest fan ─ after, of course, saving his mother from a case of fraud that Conan certainly had _no _intention of encountering.

Though he had said that there was absolutely no way the person in Eisuke's photo was other than Rena, he had shown them a video. There they saw the girl in question, looking evidently much younger, covering the news of a big incident that left several injured people behind.

At some point a nurse in the background started shouting, asking if there was someone with AB blood type. Rena left her spot instantly in order to help.

"Actually, back when during the coverage, she injured her arm seriously enough to warrant stitches," Anno commented, a smile plastered all over his face. "She fainted after they drew her blood, and in the end she needed a transfusion herself. It's a cute ending, isn't it?"

_If she needed a transfusion, _Conan frowned, watching the next video, where Rena was reassuring her viewers that she had recovered completely. _That takes the possibility of her lying about her blood type out..._

Turning to glance at Eisuke, he noticed he was looking down at his lap, hands curling into fists. _He said that his sister had said that his blood was the type 'that can be shared with everyone'. Type O._

The type that he could give to anyone. But even if she lied about it, she couldn't have received a transfusion from an AB type.

Now he could see it ─ Mizunashi Rena and Hondou Eisuke's sister could not be the same.

Also, he could understand that the reason he was so desperate to find her ─ the young boy glanced towards his general direction again and saw he was _seething _with rage ─ was not because she was his sister, but because she looked exactly like her. _He might as well be wondering what they might have done to her..._

_If this guy somehow finds out where Mizunashi Rena is... _He slowly looked away, pretending he didn't see anything. _It could turn out badly. Really, really badly._

Mostly because Conan knew how _he _would have acted, had he been in his spot.

That was why he kept quiet and decided to give Jodie a call later that evening, where he reassured him that they had it all covered. That he wouldn't find her, even if he ended up in that same hospital.

It didn't quite put his mind at rest, though.

* * *

"What's this?"

"I feel like a context is what's lacking here..."

"This... _This _thing you sent to my phone."

"Oh. That's a photograph."

The incredibly frustrated groan from the other side of the line didn't even make the kid bat an eye, as he continued making his way through the halls of his school. He could even imagine him passing a hand through his hair, visually exasperated just by having to deal with his younger brother.

Well, Conan would be lying if he said he wouldn't enjoy messing with his brother from time to time ─ the way his lips tugged upwards, slightly, was proof enough of that.

"Hondou Eisuke, Ran-neechan's new classmate," he briefly waved at his group of friends while getting inside his class. "They get along _pretty _well."

"Why is that guy...?"

"Naked? Only his shirt was missing, though, even if you can't see it in that photo," Conan set his backpack on top of his desk. "He was soaked to the bone, so he went to change."

"And why are you showing this to _me?_"

"Well, when the butler said that Ran-neechan and that guy were heading to the bathroom together, Occhan's face acquired a very scary expression," he stated, shrugging. "I don't know why he was like that, but I secretly snatched a photo, hoping you would have the same reaction."

Shinichi was silent for a moment, until he chuckled for some reason. Conan blinked, unable to see what he had found so funny, yet annoyed at his reaction anyway.

"Do you seriously not understand why Occhan was mad?"

"... Should I really try to understand how _his _mind works?"

He laughed again. "Sometimes I forget you're just a kid."

From a distance away, Haibara focused her attention away from the daily talk about Kamen Yaiba her friends were having just so she could take a brief glance at the boy, partly amused, partly confused at the sight of him plopping down in his seat with a childish pout on his face ─ she highly doubted he had noticed it himself.

With a shug and an amused smile, she looked back at Ayumi, as she gushed about something she had no idea about.

"You didn't answer my question, though," said Shinichi, after deciding he had teased his brother long enough. "Why send that to _me?_"

"Just giving you an incentive."

"Huh?"

"Frankly speaking, I'd rather see Ran-neechan dating _you _than that guy."

"Huh?!"

"Seriously, she could even get harmed if she hangs around him that much."

"Oh, is it because he has terrible luck?" he questioned, causing Conan to give the phone an odd look. "Well, I wouldn't say we, you and I, are particularly lucky either."

The little boy seemed shocked into silence about something, causing the older detective to pause. "Conan, is everything-?"

"How did you know?" then, the kid finally asked. "How did you know he has terrible luck?"

"Well, for starters, Ran told me about him over the phone," Conan's shoulders dropped at that answer, wondering why he hadn't thought of that before. "Besides, that scar on his chest..."

"Scar?"

"Yeah, looks like he got multiple needle injections. Must have been in the hospital a lot."

Before he could be surprised at the fact he had overlooked, he heard something on the other side that caused him to pause, blinking owlishly back at the phone and frowning a little when Shinichi inhaled sharply, whatever the reason.

"Was that the sound of a bell?" quietly, the sharp child asked.

"... Yes?"

"... Are you close to a school?"

"A-Ah, yeah," he sounded incredibly nervous. "Can't talk right now, I'll call you back."

The call was finished right after that, abruptly so, causing the young boy to stare at the screen of his phone for a minute more than strictly necessary, eyes narrowing behind thick glasses. _He really sounded like he would be late... for school? Is he attending school?_

_... For real?_

He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why would someone in hiding actually be doing something as mundane as actually attending school. Having finished middle school already, Shinichi had graduated from compulsory education.

_What is he thinking, seriously?_

"So," he was brought out his thoughts by the strawberry blonde taking the seat right next to him. "How did it go?"

"What?"

"You know," she rolled her eyes. "Are Mizunashi Rena and that Hondou Eisuke actually related?"

"They have different blood types," he stated even if he sounded a tad unsure about his own thoughts. "We confirmed it yesterday when we looked at his child health records."

"Then they are not siblings?"

"... Probably not."

"Probably?"

Before she could ask anything else, their teacher came inside the classroom, causing their conversation to come into a halt. His doubts, however, wouldn't stop roaming, dancing along his thoughts until the moment he arrived back home after a long day of school.

He had a bad feeling, a _very_ bad feeling indeed.

And it only got more prominent, as he arrived at the agency. He was welcomed with Okino Yoko's soft singing voice from Kogoro's TV, who barely said anything, eyes still fixed on the screen.

"Yoko-chan's singing voice is like little birds chirping," the older man said to himself, smiling widely.

As if it was a signal, the crows that sat on the windowsill started squeaking, as if singing along with Yoko's sweet voice. _That really gives out a bad feeling, _he shivered a bit, plopping down on the sofa. There, he took out his phone and immediately he searched for the photo that he had sent to his brother.

Indeed, there was a scar. He wondered what that meant.

* * *

"Oh, Conan!" Agasa was greatly surprised to see the spectacled boy standing in his doorway. "Is something wrong?"

"Hey, hey," Conan sighed, as he made his way inside the house. "You make it sound as if I only come here when something _is _wrong..."

"Which is true," he almost flinched at the female voice coming from behind the professor. "Especially considering you're here, alone, without the company of Ayumi-chan and the others."

His expression dulled upon fixing his gaze on the girl. "Hello to you as well, Ai-san," he pronounced, sarcastically, before he focused on the small cat she was holding in her arms.

Far too fixated in the animal, he completely missed the dumbfounded look Agasa gave him. _When did he start calling Ai-kun...? _he blinked twice, or maybe thrice, the old man wasn't completely sure.

With a small smile, he stretched his hand to caress the kitten's head, but found himself touching the air. "What's that about?" he didn't need to know the reason why Ai had just moved the small creature away from him to be annoyed.

"I'm not letting you put your nasty hands on Irene-chan. I just groomed her."

Conan stared, blankly. "You named her Irene," it wasn't a question.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Oh, I don't know... Maybe the fact that names taken from any literary work were _not _allowed?"

"Were not allowed for _you _to suggest."

_Hey, hey..._

"Besides, there's a beauty in that name," she looked at the cat and smiled gently. "Irene Adler, the only woman that has ever bested that extremely intelligent, but also incredibly arrogant detective-jerk. It's perfect," she then nuzzled against the kitten. "Right, Irene-chan?"

As the scientist cuddled with the cat, who mewed happily at the attention she was receiving, Conan couldn't help but stare at the unusually cutesy girly way the strawberry blonde was acting.

Her eyes fell on him, plain and bored all at once, and he couldn't help but flinch. "What are you looking at?"

"A-Ah," he was visually flustered, making the scientist raise an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to act like a..."

"What?"

"You know... A _girl_."

Her eyebrow rose, her look clearing stating something along the lines of '_do I look like a boy to you?'. _

"A-Anyway," so, the boy hurried to speak before she could say anything in return. "I need to make a call, I'll explain later."

"Is..." came the professor's voice, hesitant. "... this about Hondou Eisuke?"

Conan turned to look at the professor, frowning, with all seriousness that was so much different than a few minutes ago. "Ran-neechan said he hasn't been showing for school," he explained to them. "She said he had found a member of his father's company at Haido Central Hospital."

The professor gasped and Haibara's eyes narrowed in understanding, so he took it as a sign that he had gotten his point across. Without any further ado, he pulled his phone out and made a call.

Not that long thereafter Jodie had arrived and confirmed that, indeed, his father, Ethan Hondou, had been a spy for the CIA who came to Japan, got married, and went into hiding. What he was looking for, however, seemed to be confidential. Despite this, they had a clear idea of what it could be.

So, Conan had been sure that Eisuke was safe, and that due to his father's request he had been protected by the CIA, therefore causing his sudden disappearance. "Unfortunately, that's not the case," but Jodie had spoken up when he suggested it. "That boy's father, Ethan Hondou, died four years ago."

Apparently, a homeless person had seen it happening. Mizunashi Rena had been crouching next to his collapsed body and other two men were entering ─ by their description alone, Conan could safely assume they were Gin and Vodka ─ and she had explained how he had killed him ─ bit into his wrist, stole his gun and fired.

Frankly speaking Conan didn't know how he had gotten Jodie to let him come along, but he had convinced her with the excuse that many CIA members would be there and that he could be useful since they didn't know his face ─ complete with an innocent smile.

But it was when they were on their way to the hospital that he had realized that Eisuke couldn't have known his father's partners, since he didn't go with him at that Okonomiyaki place. _He didn't see anyone... Then what was that clue...?_

"What is it?" Jodie asked, concerned, when he noticed him frowning, deep in thought.

Wordlessly, he dialed Ran's number and asked her about it. She said that he had found someone punching in his father's business colleague's mail address, and when he had asked how he knew that, his blood had gone cold at the answer.

"The push tones closely resembled a melody... A children's song."

"... A children song...?" Conan said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Say, Ran-neechan... Could that song be, by any chance... Nanatsu no Ko?"

There was a moment where Ran had gone silent as well. "Conan-kun," then, with a very accusing tone, she added. "How did you know that?"

"... Will stay the night at the Professor's. See you."

"Co-!"

She didn't get to finish that sentence before he hung up on her. Jodie's frown deepened, taking in the pale expression of the child sitting beside her, as he let his hand fall into his lap, phone in hand. Slowly, he turned around to face her and pronounced one single sentence:

"_They _are in that hospital."

* * *

After talking with the nurse that Eisuke had asked about Rena, they found out that someone ─ who she hadn't been able to see because she had dropped her contacts ─ had asked her the same exact thing, and were able to reduce the suspects down to those that had been hospitalized in the four days between the 18th and 21th of April.

"What's left to concern us is the whereabouts of that Eisuke boy," Jodie then said.

Conan simply hummed. _I thought I would find him here, desperately looking for her in these hallways, _while deeply in thought, the boy sat on top of the empty bed of the hospital room they had borrowed so they could talk this over. _But if he isn't there, what is he doing? He doesn't seem to have found her yet._

_Though, it will be a matter of time until..._

Upon the feeling of being watched, the child blinked, jerked off his own mind, to glance curiously. Sure enough, he met with a pair of very dangerous eyes, settled on his being for a moment more than necessarily. Not even caring that he had been caught staring, Akai Shuichi's eyes narrowed slightly before closing.

_That guy is still as scary as ever, _Conan shifted uncomfortably. Even though he was now aware that he wasn't a member of the Organization, but the FBI's, that was out to kill them all, he couldn't help but feel a bit wary. He hadn't gotten used to him being an ally yet.

He couldn't get over the impression that he was related to them, some way or another.

"Well, as an FBI agent, I say it's more convenient if he stays gone," he said, after a while. "Having the son of a NOC hanging about would present various obstacles."

For some reason, that made Conan to perk up. "NOC?" he wondered, outloud.

"Non-official cover, NOC for short," explained Jodie, patiently. "It's used for secret agents that appear as civilians and infiltrate other countries for assignments," the agent then smiled at the child. "You know many things, could this be your first time hearing it?"

"No, I have, but... That word... It bothers me a little."

For the second time today, Akai seemed to study the young boy before shrugging. "If that boy is getting close enough to know their boss' email address..." his eyes narrowed slightly, upon making contact with the kid's big ones. "... those guys have no reason to leave him alone."

Conan broke eye contact, his gaze falling on his lap, as if contemplating his words.

"You might say," Akai turned around, facing the door. "You shouldn't even bother about the survival of that NOC's son-"

"Of course I should."

Not quite expecting that kind of reply, the man spun back around only to meet with a pair of unfaltering blue eyes staring back at him. "It's a _life _we're talking about," the young boy frowned deeply, his gaze becoming so intense all of sudden that Akai thought it could pierce right through him. "We can't just stand back and relax when someone out there could be _dying... _It's..." he paused, then added as if an afterthought. "It's _not _right."

Akai didn't say anything, just contemplated the child in front of him.

Even though it obviously made him uncomfortable, he still held his gaze. That gaze that would make everyone cower, to stand back because it felt like they were in danger... This young boy held it with a fierce, determined one of his own, not looking away even once.

In fact it was Akai who broke eye-contact, turning back around with a snicker before leaving the room.

At that response, Conan felt his eyebrow twitching. Jodie, who had been watching their interaction all along, could only laugh ─ then apologize due to the angry glare the kid had just given her.

* * *

"_Hey, Kir. You aren't..."_

_Knock, knock._

"_... this, right?"_

Conan frowned, still immersed in his own thoughts, as he stepped out the washroom and closed the door behind his back.

_Back then, did Vermouth suspect something was off? _he couldn't help but wonder. _Mizunashi Rena... was she a NOC?_

_No, it doesn't make any sense. She wouldn't have pretended to be the daughter of a CIA agent otherwise... _While walking through the halls, he placed a hand under his chin. _And even if she was, she wouldn't have killed her father._

_... Unless she didn't, and was all fake._

Shaking his head from side to side, Conan forced the ridiculous idea out of his mind. _She's an AB type, Hondou Eisuke an O type, _he reasoned. _Since the story of the blood transfusion seems to be true, there's absolutely no way Mizunashi Rena is her._

"Boy!" he stopped in his tracks, however, at the sight of the nurse from before heading his way. "I finally found what you were looking for!"

"Did you remember something about that man?" Conan was curious.

"No, no. I remembered something about the boy with the round glasses. His name is Eisuke, isn't it?"

"... Y-Yeah."

"I knew it! He's the boy who had surgery that time!"

"Ah," he let his shoulders drop, disillusioned at the certainly _not _new, useless piece of information. "He did get into a bad accident..."

The nurse shook her head, which caused Conan to stare back at her, curiously. "That boy, Eisuke-kun... had leukemia."

That stole a startled gasp out of him, wide eyes fixed on the nurse that continued talking, yet not quite listening to any of that, not seeing anything.

"_Yeah, looks like he got multiple needle injections. Must have been in the hospital a lot."_

Because just then, all pieces from the puzzle he had been trying to solve for so long clicked into place.

* * *

Even if the director had confirmed for them that Mizunashi Rena was still in a comatose state, Conan couldn't be entirely convinced. All he had done was to stimulate a pain response by pressing on her toe ─ which, admittedly, would have done the trick, had she been an ordinary person.

But then he would remember that Ai had told him a long time ago that Gin had trained her in, among other things, pain tolerance so not to let any secret out in case of torture ─ Conan, to this day, would still grimace at the thought.

So, a member of the Organization trained in such a thing wouldn't be that much of an implausible idea.

"Well, then," Conan decided to speak up. He needed to test his theory. "Why not try the good idea I've come up with?"

"Eh?" Jodie and James blinked.

"I'll tell everyone about it after we leave here and go to another room," he rushed to the door. "If two foreigners and someone with such a mean look in his eyes were seen leaving this room at the same time... That would be memorable and rumors would spread."

More than offended, the 'mean-eyed guy' seemed amused instead. Without a word, he left the room, followed by Jodie and James.

"You too," the kid turned to the agent on the lookout.

"Eh, me?"

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Unless Mizunashi Rena-san suddenly awakens from her coma so she can walk out this room with me..." he questioned, hands on his pockets. "... you better _come._"

"Y-Yes."

Somewhat shaken at the sudden change of demeanor that child had, the agent made his way out and Conan closed the door behind him. "Oh!" not even taking three steps away, he went back into Rena's room. "I forgot something!"

Curious about his actions, Akai observed the boy, who opened the door just a bit, so he could peak through. His innocent smile had long vanished, replaced by a very sharp look behind his thick glasses.

"Well?" Jodie asked. "Did you find it?"

"Ah, no," he laughed nervously. "I was wrong, sorry!"

The ex-English teacher merely blinked, confused about this little boy's actions, and watched him walk towards the agent that was on lookout, standing right in front of him. The child's face went blank all of sudden.

"What are _you _doing here?" with a plain voice, the kid asked.

"Eh?"

"If that announcer lady woke up suddenly, it would be really bad," he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Really, you're an FBI agent and you don't know that?"

"... But-"

"Just _go._"

"Y-Yes."

While the other two watched the agent that had just been bullied into going back to his post by an eight year-old ─ having left it in the first place because of the same child ─ Akai couldn't let his gaze stray away from the young boy.

Before long, he let a smirk make an appearance on his features.

_Interesting._

* * *

"Eh? You will question the three of them yourself? Alone?"

Nodding at the ex-English teacher, Conan continued explaining. "Well, I can't let them know the FBI is here, can I?" he smiled. "And I'm a child. Most people would lower their guard so I figured we could use that to our advantage."

"It's true they probably won't realize you're such a clever boy," James conceded. "But we can't rely on just your judgment to decide which one is their colleague."

"Never said that. I'll just question them, you draw out your conclusions," he motioned to his jacket. "If we hide a camera here, it would be just like you were there the entire time, right?"

They seemed to consider it, as they looked at each other.

"As much as I'd love to receive directions from you, it would be bad to have any radio waves interfering with the medical equipment."

Not to say he preferred to question them their own way. He had quite a few unconventional, and potentially embarrassing, ideas of how to discover their identity without them being none the wiser about it.

"Hey, boy," Akai broke the silence that had followed thereafter. "Are you truly ready? If you do this, whether you like it or not, your face will become known to them as a dog that helped the FBI."

The childish grin turned into a more subtle, but more genuine, one.

"Afterwards, don't think the resulting sparks will stop at you."

Shrugging, the child placed his hands inside his pockets. "That won't happen," he stated, with outstanding certainty. "I believe in you all," he turned to give the rest of the shocked FBI agents a look. "You're the FBI," then, he smirked. "You'll do your absolute best to capture the bad guy and never let him go, right?"

For a moment, nobody said anything, just stared at the young little boy that was risking so much, but that also was trusting them with his life.

"We'll do it," then James Black stepped up. "We won't let anyone harm you, Conan-kun."

The same boyish smile came back upon hearing that answer.

"We have a deal then."

* * *

"Ready? If you're caught-"

"-I should shout and Sensei will come rescue me," he completed easily, checking on the camera attached to the collar of his jacket. "I understood that the first ten times, Jodie-sensei."

Jodie sighed, heavily, looking hesitant to bring a child into FBI business, yet understanding that his collaboration was absolutely necessary. "Listen, Conan-kun-"

"Oh? Aren't you that kid from Mouri's place?" everyone in sight jumped at the external voice.

Instantly the kid turned around, blinking at the unknown teenager standing right in front of him, forehead bandaged and everything, wondering where he had seen that person before.

"Wow, now that I look at you, Tashiro and Hidaka were right, you _are _like a mini Kudo!"

That was when he realized he had seen him, briefly, when he had tried to investigate the hauntings in Teitan High School ─ if he wasn't mistaken, he was Ran's classmate, which would mean that he was also Shinichi's classmate.

"Hey, you know them?"

A look towards the spot he was pointing at made the kid sigh, a blank expression taking over his face as he looked at the FBI agents he had come with, huddling together around the corner.

_... Are they really secret agents of the FBI?_

"N-No, I don't!" he hoped it sounded more convincing to that guy than how it did in his ears. "I came to visit a friend. I just asked them because I got lost," he laughed nervously, then added before a question could be asked. "What happened to your head?"

"Ah, this? I hit my head during club practice and fainted."

_... How exactly do you do that? _Conan wasn't impressed.

"I see," the child looked from side to side. "By the way, did you happen to see Eisuke-niichan? I think he's been in this hospital, but..."

"Well," he seemed to think about it. "I haven't seen Hondou... I was admitted four days ago."

The child hummed, in response.

"If you mean Aizawa Eisuke from the soccer club, then yes. He came to visit shortly thereafter."

That caused Conan's eyes to widen for less than a second, before he nodded with a broad, childish smile. Waving goodbye at him, he watched him retreat back to his room, and let a frown take over.

That sentence, right now, was all he needed to be certain.

_Hondou Eisuke is definitely here._

* * *

A/N:

Dy: Yeah, it's a bit confusing. But I thought about it this way...

Considering their birthdays (May 4th and November 13th) they have an age difference of 9 years and a half.

In chapter 1 Conan is about to start elementary school and Shinichi is about to start high school (Conan is 6, Shinichi is 15). They live together until December, when Conan is 7 and Shinichi 16, before Shinichi disappears. Then Shinichi turns 17 in May, Conan turns 8 in November.

This chapter takes place around late April, which makes Conan 8, and Shinichi 17 (soon-to-be 18). Since children from ages 8-9 are in third grade elementary school and students aged 17-18 are in third grade high school, I thought it would make sense (if I didn't get my math wrong, that is XD). This is seriously different from canon, but I thought it would fit with this fic. Sorry for the confusion I generated!


	67. A Dangerous Kind of Mentality

**File Sixty-Seven: A Dangerous Kind of Mentality**

It had been embarrassing, but with the same approach ─ falling down, having them pick up his phone and mess around until he was basically getting himself chased out the room because he was being a nuisance ─ he had managed to deduce who out of the three was their member.

The old man, Shinki Chotaro, was eliminated from the list ─ he couldn't use a cell phone because of his pacemaker. So was Nishiya Chugo ─ he proved to genuinely have acute back pain when he refrained from sneezing through his mouth, after Conan had moved dust around from the curtain.

Therefore the one that had picked Conan's phone up, and had drained several cans of coffee despite being hospitalized for cervical spine sprain, had to be it.

Kusuda Rikumichi was the Black Organization spy, there was absolutely no doubt about it.

And it became evident when he was caught photographing the patient list at the nurse's lounge, then attempted to escape by threatening the FBI with some explosives that he was hiding under his cervical collar.

The FBI was so sure he would go to his room to erase all evidence of his involvement they didn't even think about the possibility of Rikumichi actually getting to his car by using the emergency exit.

Luckily, Akai had thought a step ahead and had given him the chase.

"We're counting on you, Akai-kun!" James said through the phone. "Apprehend him by whatever means necessary before he can contact the Organization!"

"Roger," he replied, calmly. "However, if he has his cell phone with him now, I won't be able to stop him."

"That would hardly be a problem."

Curious about the young voice suddenly sounding from the spot beside him, Akai's eyes darted towards the source, only to spot a little hand coming from under the seat. Soon, a head popped out and the child casually slid out. "For an Organization member, he was pretty careless to leave his phone in his room while he's out," plopping down on the passenger seat, the kid continued. "I was playing with it and accidentally dropped it into some water."

The amused look Akai gave the young boy was more than enough for him to realize that he hadn't done it by accident. "I thought you said you believed in us?" not even caring about when, or how, he got there, he let out a short snicker while ending the call he was having with his boss.

"I believed the FBI would do their best. Figured something like this would happen, though," he crossed his arms behind his head as he stated nonchalantly. "I might be risking my life, but I'm not stupidly throwing it away."

"You predicted this would happen, but still you didn't tell anyone?"

"Well, you predicted this as well and you didn't either, did you?"

Akai gave the child another look, before he smirked.

"You might want to take cover, kid."

"Eh? Why?"

Not bothering to grace the kid with a reply, the agent stepped on the gas. Realizing he was accelerating so that both vehicles were driving side to side, the child yelped and obliged, ducking just in time for Rikumichi to start shooting.

"Hey!" Conan shouted, raising his head, visually angry for some reason.

A hand on top of his head pushed him down, just in time for something to wheeze past him. The unmistakable sound of glass shattering behind him prompted him to get down once more, covering his head with his arms.

Far from fazed at the bullets, Akai simply slowed down until he was trailing behind the other car.

"Are you crazy?!" snapped Conan, slowly, and hesitating, attempted to go back to his original position. "Why would you do _that_?"

The man smirked slightly, not even bothering to answer that question. "Didn't you see it coming?" he asked instead. "That bullets were going to be involved."

"... Of course I knew," he huffed, irritated. _That doesn't mean I like them._

"This is the FBI, kid," he glanced at him briefly, before looking back at the car he was chasing. "This is no place for a child to stick around."

Before anything could be said or done, the worst happened. Conan couldn't help but gasp as the car drove off the road, out the blue, down the hill ─ _deliberately._

By the time they managed to stop, it was already too late ─ the sound of a loud bang made Conan's blood freeze. Not wasting a moment, the young boy bursted the door open and jumped out, running to the scene. Only when he took a glance at the obvious conclusion this chase had ─ the Organization member leaning against the door of a battered car, blood rushing out profusely from a hole in the head ─ did Conan stop.

Silently Akai got out the car, phone in hand, and studied the situation before calling Jodie and explaining everything to her. Throughout it all, the kid hadn't said a word, even as he stood right next to him.

Just stared at the body with a solemn look, standing quietly into his place.

"You're quite an unusual one, boy," he did look away, however, when Akai addressed him, having placed his phone back into his pocket not that long ago. "Any other kid your age would be terrified at a sight like this."

The kid let out a humorless laugh in reply. "That's because I've grown used to seeing it," he closed his eyes. "What's left after Death's cold grip takes someone away."

Conan let out a heavy sigh, his eyes falling again on the corpse as he contemplated what the aftermath had resulted in, feeling. but not paying attention to the analytical gaze that had been posed on him.

"As you can see, this is no place for a kid to be at," Akai stated, after a while. "You should ask Jodie to drive you back home when she arrives..."

"I can't do that."

The agent looked surprised for less than a second, before his neutral expression took over once more. That sharp-witted young boy, who had definitely seen far too much despite his age, was determined to stay ─ Akai could see it. Clearly, it was more than a childish desire to have a cool experience catching criminals.

There was something else. Something that moved him forward despite the danger.

Quite the unusual child, indeed.

He decided not to insist, just nodded and turned around, so as to stand next to the car to wait for Jodie and James to arrive. That was because he knew people like him. People that wouldn't stop, no matter how many times they would be chasen away. Over, and over again.

Conan didn't move, though.

* * *

It was a matter of time until the Organization made their move ─ it was evident, considering that their informant would suddenly stop calling after meeting his tragic end. Considering they couldn't just move Kir around while she was in a coma, Akai had decided that the best thing to do now was to ambush them.

"Since things have become like this, it's good that we stopped him when he was taking pictures at the nurse's station," Jodie frowned. "Even if we only stopped him from transmitting information about unrelated patients to them..."

"Well, we'd have been found out eventually," pointed out James. "Conan-kun has already made sure his cell phone was broken."

"No," Akai glanced at the child who merely stood there, listening attentively. "The reason the boy damaged the cell phone wasn't just to prevent him from contacting the Organization. It was to learn how to contact them."

The kid blinked then turned to stare at the older man, surprised.

"If he contacted them by cell phone when in the bathroom or in his hospital room, we wouldn't be able to find out how. With his phone broken, he would be forced to choose a different method."

Honestly, Conan didn't know how to react since he wasn't used to people deducing the real intentions behind their actions, so easily. Noticing this, Akai seemed to smirk, visually amused for some reason.

"I see," James realized. "If the method was something we could observe, like a payphone or a net cafe, we would know what sort of words and style they used for communication. Then we could pretend to be him and continue making contact after we've apprehended him."

"In other words, it wasn't this boy who made a mistake. It was us, the FBI, who did," Akai concluded. "We couldn't think of such a method, myself included."

Their eyes met again and this time Conan frowned slightly, not quite liking the attention he was receiving from this guy. He didn't seem to care, merely heading to the door, leaving the rest all alone.

Conan's eyes didn't leave the door, even after it closed behind the man. There was... _something. _Something about that guy that didn't quite fit in.

"What do you think about Shuu?" then Jodie asked her superior. "Having the Organization coming here in a situation like this... Somehow he seems happy about it."

"Any other feeling would be a lie. By being able to cross swords with them directly, he has an opportunity to take revenge for his girlfriend."

"Revenge?" asked Conan, curiously.

He had heard about Akai's lover before, and that she had died, but hadn't thought about it being something to be avenged.

"Shuu's girlfriend was murdered by them several months ago. It seems she was connected to the Organization," Jodie explained, with a solemn tone on her voice. "Shuu said she tried to escape the Organization, so they eliminated her."

"Why did Akai-san have a relationship with a woman like that?" he genuinely couldn't get his head around it. _Unless he didn't know who she really was, but considering who Akai-san is, it seems unlikely..._

"To infiltrate the Organization," she kneeled down right in front of him. "She wasn't very high in the Organization herself, but her little sister was a scientist for them."

_Little sister? A scientist...?_

"He was a member of the Organization under the name of 'Moroboshi Dai'," explained James. "He made it well in the Organization. At first he didn't try to stand out too much, but he gradually distinguished himself. The codename they gave him was 'Rye'."

_Rye, _if he used to be a member, many things made so much sense now.

"Eventually he was called up to work with one of the executive members, the man called 'Gin'," as always, the name didn't fail to cause a chill to run down Conan's spine. "We expected that if we could capture him, we could take the fight all the way to the boss, so we had our FBI agents stake out the meeting place for the mission ahead of time, but he never showed."

_He got found out, _Conan didn't need that fact explained to him. "Then, Akai-san's girlfriend was killed afterwards?"

"No," Jodie replied. "It seems her younger sister was a very important person to the Organization, so they couldn't lay a hand on her. Shuu realized this and stopped seeing her shortly thereafter."

"The Organization thought that since she'd been influenced by the FBI they couldn't let her go free, considering she could be contacted in the future," the boss explained. "They became restless and presented her with a proposition. If she could complete an assignment they would let both her sister and her leave the Organization. Of course the stipulation was that neither she nor her sister would live should she fail."

_Hey, hey, could she be...?_

"But she succeeded in her assignment, which was to procure one billion yen in a robbery."

He genuinely hoped that nobody noticed the way his face had surely gone pale, or the way his eyes widened in horror, upon hearing those words just now.

His shaking hands slipped inside his pockets, in a desperate attempt to refrain himself from _looking ─ _because he knew well enough _what _he would see if he did so.

"They ended up killing her anyway."

It came back to him suddenly. The feeling of blood rushing from under his palms, her kind smile that remained in place, even when he could see her life, ever so slowly, fading away from her eyes.

"_I'll leave the rest to you... little detective..."_

"What..." despite being so certain, he asked just in case. "What was her name?"

"Her real name was Miyano Akemi. Her alias was Hirota Masami. I will never forget it."

He didn't offer them any kind of answer. _I knew it, _he thought, in shock. _Then there's no doubt about it. _

With that, Conan simply excused himself and quietly left the room. _That scientist is definitely Ai-san, _he concluded, making his way through the hospital halls, gaze casted on the floor as he continued to think about that whole situation. _To think that her sister and Akai-san were in a relationship_... _Though Akai-san basically used her..._

_If Ai-san ever saw him again, she would definitely be mad._

He found the person he was looking for in record time. Silently peeking from a door that led to the roof, Conan saw Akai leaning against a wall, gazing at the screen of his phone.

_I wonder how she would react, though, if she saw him like this..._

There was something, very subtle, in the way he looked at whatever was in the phone. Something he wouldn't be able to describe, but it was _there _─ it was so much different from the dangerous glint in his eyes that was so like him.

Conan didn't need to be a genius to realize what had caused this dramatical change of attitude in the FBI agent. So he decided to let his presence be known and step out into the cold night.

Flipping his phone close, Akai gave Conan a curious look, which he returned with a rather unreadable one of his own.

"Can we talk?" he finally said after a while.

"If it's about how we plan to attack them, I'm still thinking over it."

"But you know, I was wondering..." a smirk crossed his features. "Maybe you're thinking exactly as I am."

That seemed to pick Akai's attention. "Oh?" he sounded interested. "So what is your plan, boy?"

"To have Mizunashi Rena share information with us, from the inside. As you might have noticed, she's a NOC."

Akai was mildly surprised that the little boy had figured such a thing out, all on his own.

Contrary to Conan's first assumption, it was surprisingly easy to talk with Akai Shuichi. For once, he didn't chase him away or brush him off because of his age ─ in fact, the agent seemed to talk with him as an equal, a fact that the child was incredibly grateful for.

For hours to an end, they discussed it, exchanged several ideas until, several hours late into the night, they decided to head out, having planned everything out.

Akai would contact a certain agent ─ Camel was his name ─ that was going to be a very important part of his plan. So, all that was left was to convince _her ─ _CIA agent and Black Organization member, Kir, aka Mizunashi Rena.

That led to the current situation ─ Conan and Akai quietly walking through the darkened halls of that hospital, steps echoing and filling the silence that none had tried to break for a long time already.

"You never fail to amaze me, kid," it was Akai, however, the first to break it.

"I'm just glad you're an ally, Akai-san," the boy smiled at the adult.

"Same to you," the agent did the same.

Conan didn't reply, just watched Akai opening the door to Mizunashi Rena's room and telling the person on the lookout that he would change places with him. Only when he walked out did the child step inside, Akai following suit.

"Well then," the kid didn't take his eyes out of the woman lying in bed. "If we're actually following this plan... The first step is to have the prince come and wake the sleeping beauty."

To say that Akai was curious as to how he was planning to do that was more than an understanding, so he watched the kid, as he proceeded to place his bowtie in front of his mouth and lightly knock on the door.

"Akai-san," then, an undescript voice filled their ears. "There's an emergency meeting."

Now, Akai truly didn't expect the child to have a voice-changer with him ─ hence the surprise showing in his face when he realized it ─ but instantly played along, opening the door.

"A strategy session, huh?" he said to no-one. "If the plan is worthwhile, I don't mind."

With that Akai closed the door behind him and Conan proceeded to hide in the darkest corner of that room. He didn't have to wait long for the door to open, quietly, once more.

And in came Hondou Eisuke, a scary expression plastered all over his face as he glared at the woman ─ who he believed to be impressionating as his dear sister ─ lying in the bed.

The undeniable _hate _glimmering behind round glasses prompted Conan to freeze, momentarily, watching for a second or so as the teenager slowly, and dangerously, moved closer to the bed, demanding the newscaster to wake up.

Conan flipped the lid of his watch open and pointed at the back of Eisuke's neck, just to be safe.

_Hopefully, _sweat dropped down his forehead. _This won't get ugly..._

The teenager was screaming now, desperately shaking her motionless body and pleading, with tears brimming despite the fierceness of his eyes. He was pleading for her to wake up, so that he could ask where his sister Hidemi was.

His lips pressed, struggling to keep himself in his place. It was hard, however, as his mind bugged him with the same question, repeating itself over and over again...

What would he do if instead of Hidemi and Eisuke, all this was about Shinichi and Conan?

Yeah... _I would definitely..._

"Hey! Open your eyes!"

... Well, he wasn't so sure about the part of pulling a pair of scissors out and attempting to stab her with them.

A split of second before Conan could press the button and stop this from becoming bloody murder, a hand wrapped around Eisuke's wrist, sucessfully stopping him from commiting the deal.

"Don't, Ei-chan," Mizunashi Rena's gentle voice resounded in the room as her eyes, undeniably open now, gazed at the teenager. "Haven't I told you? Not to become a man that would hurt other people."

"... Nee-san?"

"Yeah, now, Ei-chan... That's reason enough for you to get out of this dangerous place without asking me anything else. Please!"

"You're lying! You have type AB blood, don't you?! If you were my sister who gave me blood in the past... You should have type O blood!"

"... Or _you _should have type AB blood."

At the young voice, Eisuke spun around, shocked to see the child, who seemed to come from nowhere, moving closer to them. "So that must have been it, right?"

"What are you talking about?" the teen pointed at himself, frowning as he did so. "You saw it in my child health records, right?! I'm type O!"

"You _were,_" he corrected, causing Eisuke to blink, confused. "But your blood became type AB due to bone marrow transplant done to cure your leukemia."

The older boy seemed to be shocked beyond words. "But... But...!" he turned to his sister, who stared back at him with an unreadable expression. "Why? Why didn't you tell me about that? Why'd you change your name and become an announcer?!"

"Ei-chan..."

"Nee-san!" he was exasperated.

"She had no choice," Conan shrugged. "That's what comes with being an agent with the CIA."

Now it was the turn for Hidemi to be shocked. Her eyes darted towards his direction, prompting him to smile, childishly. "And it wasn't just you, right?" he added. "Your father as well."

"My father?!" Eisuke's eyes were wider than even before.

"Yeah," he turned to the teen. "She was trying to get information by infiltrating a certain Organization and ended up becoming an announcer to suit their plans. She expected you to see her on TV and try to come and meet her," he glanced back at the woman. "But it kind of backfired, didn't it? Since he came by at the worst moment possible."

Hidemi didn't answer.

"Hold on a second! What do you mean? What is this 'certain Organization'?!"

Conan's smile dimmed as he turned to face the desperate boy and bit his tongue. "I'm sorry," his whispered apology sounded strangely genuine.

Just when Eisuke was about to press the kid further, the door opened to reveal Akai. "That's all you're permitted to know," he said, then moved to let the agent behind him walk in. "Camel, take care of him."

Of course, Eisuke protested loudly, as the bigger man grabbed him and started dragging him out. His struggle only grew more prominent when Akai told his partner to take him away and lock him inside an empty room.

Before he closed the door, Conan saw it. The moment when Eisuke's distressed gaze met with Hidemi's resigned one.

His screams suddenly faded away in the distance, letting the other three to look at each other, quietly still. Conan's eyes didn't stray away from the door that had separated both siblings, even when Akai walked closer and started talking.

He did look away, however, when she asked how he knew she was an agent.

"The technique you used to see if I was lying is often used by the CIA," he explained, easily. "Besides you knew I was lying and thanked me _profusely. _That was because you were able to get through without anybody dying," the kid then shrugged. "Well, it seemed like Vermouth became vaguely suspicious, right?"

By the look she gave him, it was obvious she didn't understand. "When you came to Occhan for the case with the bell-ringer I put a transmitter and listening device on your door. It accidentally ended up in one of your shoes."

She proceeded to ask about her father, and Akai commented on what they had found. He also stated that she hadn't killed him, but that was what Ethan had wanted to look like ─ he had been protecting her. She was supposed to introduce a secret agent to work as a contact for her father and, well, things had gotten a turn for the worse.

"Then the reason you requested Kogoro-ojisan for the doorbell ringing case was because you needed a new contact?"

Conan didn't expect her to shake her head. "I used that case to get that famous detective's address. I wanted him to protect Eisuke," she stated, before chuckling a bit. "But it looks like the one I should have confided in was you."

The child blinked, then slowly pointed at himself, as if not understanding. That caused the woman to laugh a bit more. "You noticed I had regained consciousness, didn't you?" she continued, and he nodded. "How?"

"When I said I had forgotten something and came back inside the room I noticed that the wrinkles on the sheet around your neck had moved slightly," at that explanation, she looked as if she wanted to be surprised by his observations skills, but couldn't really. "And I knew Eisuke-niichan was here when I asked one of his classmates if he had seen him. Even if he has seen his friend recently, Aizawa Eisuke, he first thought about Hondou Eisuke," he smiled brightly. "That's how I knew he was hiding him in his room."

Hidemi smiled. "You really are amazing."

"Yeah," Akai did the same. "To the point that we FBI are speechless."

The kid in question genuinely didn't know how to answer that, so he simply nodded, placing his hands inside his pockets and looking at Akai, prompting him to finally propose what they had meaning to all along.

Once Akai made his proposal, Hidemi went thoughtful and silent, turning her head to stare at the ceiling as she debated what to do. The other two simply watched her frown slightly before turning to look back at them. "I have a condition of my own," she stated, focusing back on the FBI agent. "I want you to put Eisuke in the Witness Protection Program."

Akai nodded, agreeing with her terms.

_Well, _Conan thought with a shrug. _Only if that guy accepts, though._

Absent-mindedly, the young boy turned to the door again, and gave it a long look. _He must be desperate at this moment, _he frowned, unable to wipe out of this mind _that _look. That last look he gave his dear sister before he was taken away. _Angry, frustrated... Doing his absolute best to get out of that room so he could see her again..._

Maybe he was projecting again, he didn't know ─ Conan sighed heavily.

"Say, Akai-san," now that everything was wrapped up for the time being, he gathered the adult's attention. "There's still time before the strategy meeting begins, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, not quite understanding where all of this was coming from. "What for?"

"I'm going to check on Eisuke-niichan a little bit," he informed, before a yawn teared apart from inside him, without any kind of warning. "And maybe take a quick nap," he added, as an afterthought ─ _what time was it, anyway? ─_ while one hand reached for the knob and the other rubbed his eye, tiredly. "Let me know when it's time for the meeting, alright?"

Akai simply nodded.

With a nod of his own and a little smile, the kid opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Just as he was closing it, he felt something made him halt and glance around, nervously.

There was nothing, nobody but him in that empty hallway. _I must be imagining things, _he decided, letting his shoulders drop with a sigh. _Definitely need some sleep. _

Shaking his head, he took off running towards his destination ─ perhaps asking Camel where he had locked him would be a better idea than trying to deduce it himself, he decided.

"You should know, however," once the child was gone, Hidemi decided to speak up. "No matter the circumstances... My father's mission for the CIA takes priority," she frowned. "Even if I become inconvenient for the FBI, don't think badly of me."

"I was about to say just that," he smirked, before his eyes darted to the door. "Do _you _agree?"

"Who are you talking to?" Hidemi didn't understand.

"I'm talking to that impolite detective that's listening through the door," there was a gasp from the woman's side, eyes focusing at the doorway as well. "You should know it's rude to do that, high school detective Kudo Shinichi-kun."

Hidemi was disconcerted, but her bewilderment only grew stronger when the door finally opened to reveal a teenager. His hand went to his hat and plucked it out, letting them both see his face.

Kudo Shinichi stood there, glaring at Akai for a moment ─ she didn't know exactly why, but the detective seemed to be mad at him for some unknown reason.

"You're alive," Hidemi had never seen him in person, but he had definitely heard about Singani ─ that young detective that had risen through the ranks so quickly, only to be discovered that it was all a farce and getting himself killed. It had served as an example of what would happen to her if they found out she was a secret agent.

Shinichi didn't bother to answer her, just frowned deeper at Akai's general direction.

"So?" the man in question only smirked, as if amused. "What do you think?"

"That you will die," he stated, matter-of-factly. "We both know how they operate," then he turned back to look at Hidemi. "Once she's back, they will question her loyalty. They will make her contact you, then shoot you. It doesn't help that they want you dead already."

"Well, that's about it."

At some point he wanted to say something, but he simply raised an eyebrow, not bothering to add anything else.

"But I'm not going to die," Akai added, after a brief pause. "Because we have Singani here, the one that had fooled the Organization into thinking he was an excellent cleaner without ever getting blood on his hands."

"What makes you think that I will help you?"

Akai only smirked wider. "The fact that you despise letting people die, no matter who they are."

Shinichi seemed as if he wanted to protest, only to sigh, tiredly, and cross over the room to take a chair and sit on it. "Go get some glue for your fingerprints," he stated, sounding almost annoyed at the prospect. "We'll plan the rest out after your strategy meeting."

* * *

It seemed like he wouldn't need Camel's help after all, considering that he could hear the screaming from so far away. Sighing tiredly, the child moved closer and stood in front of the door, which stayed closed despite the furious banging coming from the other side.

"We're in a _hospital _and it's two in the morning," the kid stressed out, loud enough to be heard over the teen's voice. "And I can assure you that if you end up breaking something, the staff isn't going to let you get away with it so easily..."

"... Conan-kun?" he seemed to pause, surprised. "Let me out, please, Conan-kun!"

"How would I do that? It's not like I have the keys," he raised his eyebrow, even if he couldn't be seen. "Well, they should let you out in no time... If you stop banging on that poor door, that is."

"Even if you say so-!"

"If you break out the room in that state, you might see your sister once more," Conan stated, calmly. "But it could be the last time you do."

Eisuke fell quiet with shock at those words, and Conan didn't even try to break that silence, conforming himself to just sit on the cold floor, staring intently at the door, waiting for the person on the other side to say something in return.

"What..." eventually, he did. "What do you mean with that?"

"Even if you see her again, you won't be satisfied. You will keep trying and trying," the child scooted so he could rest his back against the door and cross his arms behind his head. "Eventually, they will spot you, investigate you. Best case scenario, you will be killed on the spot and that will be the end of it. But what if they make the connection with your sister?"

It didn't seem like the teen wanted the child to finish that thought, but Conan figured he understood it perfectly without needing it.

"That's why the best might be to lay low for the moment," he completed, then paused, blinking, thinking over his words before grimacing. _God, I'm sounding like Ai-san right now, _he realized with a huff, forcing the thought out of his head so he could finish his sentence. "Before you get involved... There will be no way back once you do."

"Why do you make it sound like you're involved?"

Conan didn't see it fitting to grace him with an answer, so he merely hugged his knees.

"I understand how you feel," he really did, actually. "You're desperate, lost. Afraid that you will never see her again," his fingers wrapped against both his forearms unconsciously, gripping tightly. "... But you need to endure, Eisuke-niichan. Just a tiny bit longer."

Faintly, so faintly that it was almost impossible to see it, the tips of his lips tugged upwards.

"Everything will go back to normal again, I promise."

Eisuke was at a loss of words, staring wide-eyed at the door in front of him, hands still resting on the wooden surface. Gradually, however, his shock vanished, and he slowly let go.

"Alright, then, Conan-kun," he conceded, with a bit of a smile. "I will trust you."

If Eisuke was told to, he wouldn't be able to discern it, but he could tell there _was _something. Something in that young voice that made him _believe, _no matter how unlikely, how naive.

Those innocent words that could only come from the mouth of a child that dreamed big, that still believed that the impossible was at the grasp of his hands... Eisuke trusted them.

Everything would turn out to be alright.

Pleased with his reaction, Conan allowed his head to rest on top of his knees. The small tug on his lips had transformed into a tender smile with him being none the wiser, encouraged by a certain bright grin flashing in his mind.

Letting his eyes drift closed, he allowed his imagination to roam free ─ to show him the future he had always wanted. His brother there at his side, alive, laughing carefree.

_I can't wait for that day to come... _Somehow, he was now walking to school with him, like any ordinary day before _that _happened. _... Onii-chan._

Like so, he allowed himself to indulge in a fantasy that his own brain had created and walked to school with him.

* * *

**"****It's surprising to see you around," commented Akai, as he walked besides Shinichi through the dark halls of the hospital, having left Hidemi's room not that long ago. "When I heard you had disappeared, I suspected they had found you out. But to live to tell the tale it is beyond impressive."**

"Don't have to pretend, you knew already," said Shinichi, huffing irritably. "You didn't sound surprised when you called me out earlier."

With a smirk, the agent shrugged. "I didn't think you would let yourself be killed so easily," he stated. "I investigated, and found out you have actually been trying to warn those that you once hid."

_He most likely pressured someone into talking, _he wouldn't be surprised. And certainly, he couldn't really blame whoever hadn't been able to keep their mouth shut, even if he wanted to ─ having Akai Shuichi to glare at you with that terrifying gaze until you spilled the beans must be nightmare-inducing.

"It would have been easier if you just entered the Witness Protection Program. We would have protected those people as well."

The detective frowned. "I wouldn't accept it," he stated, with a serious tone in his voice. "Even if you offered it, over and over again. I..."

"... You have a reason to keep living as Kudo Shinichi," Akai continued, as if he had all the answers for him. "And that reason is right there."

At first, Shinichi was confused. His puzzlement was short-lived, however, and vanished when he spotted a small something hidden by the darkness, curled in front of a door. Squinting a bit, the detective could make out a child, and there was no doubt in his mind that that kid over there was none other than his little brother.

"The resemblance is quite striking," commented Akai, as they got closer. "Even if you're only distant relatives."

"Ah, yeah," he did his best not to let his nervousness show at that. "Genetics from my father's side are incredibly strong..."

"I see."

Shinichi ignored the way the agent smirked in favor of moving closer to the young boy and crouching down right next to him. The way he hadn't noticed him despite always being careful of his surroundings, or the rhythmic pattern of his breathing, was more than enough for him to realize that he had fallen asleep sitting like that.

"Seriously, this kid," he could only sigh at the sight.

Shuichi recognized the fondness in the detective's voice, but kept quiet about it.

"I didn't mean physically-wise."

"Eh?"

"Do you remember when I confronted you after I realized what you were truly doing?"

Despite the lack of reply, he did remember. The agent had confronted him, informing him that it was dangerous if he kept playing that game. That he couldn't save everyone.

_"I'm not like you, or any of your FBI friends, Rye," _he had been angry, too. _"A life is a life, I can't just...!"_

Shinichi frowned. "What does it have to do with anything?"

"When I was talking with that boy, I suggested that Mizunashi Rena's brother wouldn't survive and that he should probably forget about him," Akai chuckled at the memory. "He was mad."

He remembered it well, both had the same eyes, the same fiery gaze that spoke of their determination to not let anyone die, _ever._

Shinichi's cold eyes darted away from Akai's form, and instantly softened upon connecting with the child. Ever so carefully, he scooped him up into his arms. "Go ahead," he told the man, stepping away from the door that Conan had just been blocking.

The teen made sure that his hat was in place when Akai unlocked the door and peeked inside. Under the agent's intense stare, Eisuke couldn't help but shift uncomfortably.

"Don't worry," despite it, he managed to say, albeit nervously. "I won't cause any more trouble."

"Oh?" Akai stepped back, placing his hands back inside his pockets. "That's quite a big change from before."

Eisuke hesitantly walked out the room, eyes traveling around until they fell on the child in Shinichi's arms. "Conan-kun convinced me," he stated, with a small smile.

"The kid?"

"Y-Yeah," he laughed, probably being aware of how stupid that sounded. "There was something... I don't know, it made me trust him."

Following that statement, Eisuke bowed slightly and continued his way. Of course, however, it wouldn't go so smoothly for him ─ he bumped into the other teen as he passed by.

"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Eisuke, stumbling backwards.

"N-No... It's not-" Shinichi tried not to wince when he saw the boy hit his back, painfully, against the wall. "... a big deal..."

Apologizing once more, profusely, he walked away and finally disappeared from sight. Only then, Shinichi huffed. _Ran was wrong, _he raised an eyebrow. _He's not just clumsy, he's a safety hazard._

_... Just like someone else said he was..._

Looking down at his younger brother, Shinichi couldn't fight the amused chuckle that escaped him upon seeing that the child hadn't been roused despite what had just happened. _A child will always be a child, huh? _he sighed again, before turning to Akai. "I guess we should talk the rest over with Conan in the morning," the teen stated. "We will need his help to-"

"No," Shinichi's words came to a stop when the man shook his head, a severe expression plastered all over his face. "We can't let anyone know."

"You're telling me... to leave Conan in the dark?"

"You were the one that said that we need to make it real," he turned to give a brief glance to the kid in question before continuing. "Absolutely nobody can know about this, not even this boy."

"But... I can't..." the teen hesitated. "If he finds out you died..."

Shinichi didn't finish that sentence, not that he needed it to make his point across. _I don't want to lie to him,_ it was evident by the way he, unconsciously, tightened his hold on the young boy he was carrying. _I don't want to hurt him again._

The silence of the night was almost deafening, but still the high school student remained there, standing quietly still, while staring at the agent in front of him. As if debating with himself what to do.

"For the longest time," so Akai continued, calmly. "I had wondered why a kid like you would be willing to go through all of that... Risking so much for the name of justice," the teen frowned a bit. "I heard you had a brother that passed away."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Shinichi was oddly defensive, the agent noted.

"Is Edogawa Conan really just a distant relative or, in fact, your deceased brother, Kudo Conan?"

He decided not to grace him with an answer, but Akai took it as a cue to continue.

"Whatever happened with that boy pushed you to involve yourself into this shady business. If they find out I'm not dead, and that he knew all along... It won't end well for him. Given all you risked for him, are you willing to let that happen?"

Biting his lip, Shinichi closed his eyes, deep in thought as he actually considered it. He might have been unwilling to admit it outloud to the man, but it was obvious ─ the reason he did this, _all _this, was there. In his arms, warm, safe and _breathing._

For a moment, he imagined it. Himself, holding a cold, motionless body instead ─ the thought made him shiver, violently.

"True, he will be upset about this," Akai added, as he started to walk away. "It's admirable that, after everything he has gone through, he still believes that every single life needs to be saved," he passed by the detective, who didn't move from his spot, not even turning to look at the person talking to him. "But if it doesn't change, that mentality of his will turn into something extremely dangerous..."

It was then that Shinichi glanced at him from over his shoulder, just to see the agent doing the same. Akai's eyes narrowed, but the detective remained impassive.

"... And it will become that boy's downfall."

After saying all that the agent disappeared, but Shinichi didn't look away from the spot where Akai just just stood at. For the longest time, he just stood there, letting those words replay in his mind repeatedly.

Some movement in his arms woke Shinichi from his daze and looked in the direction, just to smile at the sight of Conan nuzzling his head in the crook of his neck. It was at times like this that he was reminded of how young he actually was ─ the little boy would never act like that if he was awake, so it was a rare moment Shinichi was willing to enjoy.

"It will be alright," he whispered, mostly to himself. "I won't let it happen."

Whenever he thought that Conan couldn't surprise him anymore, the child went and did it. That kid had gone through a lot, seen the darkest side of humanity so many times ─ he had been betrayed, hurt and so many other things that made Shinichi's skin crawl ─ yet, he still could see it. That every single life was extremely important, that it wasn't right to give up on someone, no matter the circumstances.

Shinichi was a man of logic. He didn't believe in miracles.

... But if they didn't exist, that rendered him unable to explain how this little boy here could _still _think that way.

_And that doesn't need to change, _his smile dimmed and a frown took place. _Conan doesn't need to change. He is fine the way he is._

_He will be fine._

"_I don't know... I seriously don't know what's really happening but Conan-kun was acting... strange," _Ran had sounded desperate over the phone, even after she had told him over the phone every single thing that had happened regarding Hondou Eisuke, minutes prior to him leaving straight for Haido City_. "So... If you know something, Shinichi, please. Please make sure that Conan-kun gets back home safely. I... I don't know what to do anymore." _

A tiny hand grasped into the fabric of his shirt and unconsciously pulled closer with a contented sigh. Conan seemed to be dreaming right now, about something that Shinichi had absolutely no way to know about. Yet Shinichi decided it safe to assume it was a pleasant one ─ the way the young boy was smiling in his sleep was all proof he needed.

He was curious, though. What would his little brother be dreaming about right now?

_Everything will be okay, _the detective convinced himself, hugging Conan even closer ─ as if afraid that he would vanish forever if he didn't hold onto him tightly enough. _Because I will protect you._

_Onii-chan will always protect you, Conan._


	68. Following Through A Risky Plan

**File Sixty-Eight: Following Through A Risky Plan**

Footsteps were echoing in Conan's ears long before could recognize the sound. At first, he didn't think much of it, until the moment that he realized that they weren't coming closer, or further away either. As if he was the one who was producing them, except that he wasn't moving at all. He might have mumbled, or sighed, he didn't know exactly.

"Shh," but he might have, some part of his barely working brain realized, because a gentle voice hushed him, and hand fell on top of his head. "Go back to sleep, Conan."

He didn't protest, simply snuggled further into the comforting ─ and strangely familiar ─ warmth surrounding him and let go.

An unknown amount of time later, the sunlight suddenly hitting his eyelids caused the young child's face to scrunch up, turning his head to one side in a feeble attempt to retain his sleep ─ in vain, obviously. Groaning, the young detective tiredly opened his eyes to greet another day.

Once he did, the child felt momentarily confused as to what he was doing there, lying across some seats in Haido Central Hospital's waiting room ─ and why was there sunlight, anyway?

"Finally awake?"

The moment his eyes flickered towards Akai Shuichi his brain connected the dots and glared. "Liar," he accused, sitting up with a yawn.

Akai looked even more amused, if anything. "There was no reason for you to be at that strategy meeting," he stated. "Everything went exactly as you predicted it would."

"As _we _predicted."

Shrugging, the FBI looked away, not looking particularly interested in continuing that conversation. Conan took the opportunity to stretch and, sluggishly, glance around the room. At some point, the boy sighed, as if he had been looking for something he didn't find.

_So it was a dream, huh? _he frowned, his gaze falling on his feet, that dangled in the air because of his short stature. ... _All of it._

He was suddenly brought out his thoughts when Akai suddenly turned around, seemingly having spotted something. Curious about it, he followed his gaze and realized that Jodie was walking towards them.

One look at the child, and the ex-English teacher sighed, rather loudly. "You are _still _here?" she raised her eyebrow at him. "I thought you had gone home already..."

Conan laughed nervously, and was about to say something about it when he noticed that none of the agents were actually looking at him, but to the adjacent window. Finding their reaction weird, he instantly stood up in the seat to look outside.

There was a fire, he noted, hoping against hope that it wouldn't have nothing to do with _their _case.

"Eh?" then, they heard the confused voice of the receptionist. "I'm afraid we don't have a patient by that name."

"No, it's not for a patient," there was a delivery man talking with the woman. "It's for an attendant."

Jodie got close. "That person is a friend of mine, but..."

Conan was jumping out of his seat and rushing to the place by the moment the man was taking a note from his pocket and reading from it. "The sender is..." he pronounced with a smile, unaware of the true meaning of his words. "One Kusuda Rikumichi-sama, it seems."

None of them three was able to conceal their shock, but didn't emit any kind of comment, as the worker, blissfully oblivious of the whole situation, gave Jodie the package ─ they seemed to be flowers, if the clearly visible pot was something to go by.

"Columbine," observed James, once they got the 'present' to him later on, outside the hospital. "They sent this to me?"

"Yeah," Jodie nodded. "Since they used the name of their member who killed himself last night, there's no doubt it. As a precaution, we acted as security guards and checked luggage of those entering the hospital."

"But why would they send this to me?" he studied the flowers carefully. "Columbine is a flower that grows in Colorado-"

"Obtain without failure," at the young voice breaking in, the three adults gazed at the child, whose face had adopted a severe expression. "That's what that flower means," he stated, leaving no room to doubt. "It also means 'clear victory'. Whichever the case..."

"... It's a declaration of war," completed Akai. "Isn't it?"

It was then when a car skidded to a stop right next to them, only to a worried father to come out with his very sick-looking daughter. It was followed by another car, then another and another. In no time, people were flooding the hospital ─ injuries from a fire, food poisoning and a disturbing odor, the reasons were endless. There was no doubt in Conan's mind ─ everyone's mind, for that matter ─ that the ones responsible for these accidents were none other than the Black Organization.

_What... _for a fact, Conan knew it wasn't that they were trying to infiltrate someone ─ as Akai had explained to the other two ─ but still was unable to figure it out. _What is their motive?_

_Tick, tock... _there was a distinctive sound that met his ears, prompting his entire body to come into a halt. _Tick, tock... Tick, tock..._

It was becoming louder, too. "Hey," turning to the source, he found himself face to face with the columbine flowers. "There's a sound coming from that flower pot!"

"Eh?"

Indeed, there was, everyone noticed. After inspecting it, Akai found a bomb under the plant, set to explode in little over thirty minutes ─ far too little time for anyone to try and defuse it.

There was nothing Conan could do but to let Jodie take care of it. Soon, Camel appeared and suggested that he would drive since he had knowledge of the area.

_Well, _Conan thought, with a sigh, as he watched both agents go. _At least they have a car, instead of a borrowed bike..._

"Something is bothering me," all of sudden, Akai commented.

"You mean Camel-kun?" James questioned. "I mean, he doesn't have the friendliest face, but..."

_It would be highly hypocritical for Akai-san to judge someone by that..._

"No, I mean the bomb. They were gracious enough to include a visible timer. Then, it was made to get louder so we would notice it."

"Also, isn't it strange?" it had bothered the kid a lot. "They gave us more than thirty minutes. It was almost as if they were asking the FBI to take it elsewhere to explode."

James Black seriously didn't know what that was supposed to mean.

* * *

The fact that many gifts of consolation had been delivered to all those patients had been slightly suspicious, but the fact that there was a bomb hidden in each and every single one of them had been terrifying.

"I'm completely better now!" by far, however, the most disturbing sight was Mizunashi Rena's smiling face, sitting in a bed in a hospital room, showing in each and every single TV in that hospital. "To all the viewers, I'm truly sorry for worrying you so much."

So, Conan stood there, in the midst of the crowd of people in the waiting lobby, eyes wide open with shock. _She wouldn't do this, we made a deal with her... _then, his body gave a jerk at the realization that suddenly struck him ─ he had seen that video before, it was probably edited.

_They made their move, huh? _the shock suddenly left him, causing a barely-noticeable smirk to make an appearance on his face. _It's time, then..._

Instantly, the kid began to make his way outside, maneuvering through the crowd of people so he could meet with James and Akai. _... to make our move._

He was so deeply immersed in his own thoughts, he didn't even pause to apologize to the random person he bumped into and continued on running ─ not even noticing the way the person turned around, slightly, and followed him with his gaze until the child disappeared.

_... It's time, huh? _the person thought, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.

As expected, all FBI agents had gathered at Mizunashi Rena's room, so they could confirm that the woman in question was still in a coma. They were confused as to what that meant, until Akai graciously pointed out that there were transmitters planted in the bombs they had been recollecting. Therefore, the Organization now knew where her room was.

There was no other choice left but to leave the hospital. "It's time to go with the last resort I spoke of before," James announced. "We'll separate into three cars and escape the hospital in the confusion."

_Ah, there it goes, _thought Conan, crossing his arms behind his head. _The plan they talked about that other time..._

_... Escaping in several vehicles so they wouldn't know which one she is in... Highly common strategy, _his eyes narrowed. _And dangerous, as well._

"Whichever agent is the bait will draw them as far away as possible..."

_Well, if we get Agent Camel to drive... _

"As for who will ride in each car-"

A loud noise caused James to stop his explanation, causing him to turn and look at the source. When he noticed that all adults were staring at his soul, the young boy flinched and instantly brought his phone out of his pocket.

He blinked, confusedly, at his brother's name staring back at him from the screen.

Before he could say, or do, anything, he felt his phone leaving his fingers. "I thought you would know better, boy," his eyes flickered to the source, and was horrified to see Akai holding the device with his right hand, while he kept the other tucked inside his pocket. "It's dangerous to use a phone in a hospital."

Conan could've sighed in relief when the man simply sent the caller to voicemail without breaking eye contact ─ therefore, not even glancing at the name on the screen ─ before handing it back to him.

_That's weird, _thought the child, giving the phone in his hand an odd look. _I could have sworn I had turned it off..._

Sighing, he pressed the 'off' button and continued paying attention, unable to get out of his head the thought that something was amiss. And wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Alright, let's destroy the transmitters in the bombs we already have," James continued, as if nothing had happened.

"No," Akai spoke up, however. "Do so only after you've heard me out."

Like so, the agent suggested that he had the perfect plan to take Mizunashi Rena out of the hospital and away from the people looking for her. After he told them all about it, James went silently thoughtful, nodding to himself as he pondered about it.

"The question now is who is to drive the car with Mizunashi Rena..."

"That's true," Akai nodded. "If they discover us and find ourselves in a position in which we need to lose them... We need someone who can take action in any situation. Someone who knows the area and has good driving technique."

"That would be you, Akai-kun."

"Wouldn't it be a bit too obvious?" questioned the child, blinking innocent eyes at the older man. "If they know it's Akai-san, separating into three cars kind of loses its purpose, doesn't it?"

James gave him a long look, before realizing he was right. Before he could say anything else, however, a hand rose in the air. "I will," Agent Camel came forward, smirk on place, and immediately after Jodie stated that it _had _to be him ─ he had shown her that his driving skills were amazing when they went to dispose of the bomb.

"_Fear of death is worse than death itself," _pronounced Akai, in English, while exchanging a look with his fellow agent. "No fear."

"I've been prepared for death from the start. I have no family to mourn my passing anyway."

There was something that bothered Jodie about that sentence, but ultimately kept it quiet. Conan looked at her for a moment, hoping that it didn't take a turn for the worst, before focusing back on the agent that was leaving the room.

_... Being prepared for death, _his eyebrows knitted together, his gaze still glued on him until he disappeared from his sight. _That's right, if this plan fails, Agent Camel..._

"Don't make such a face," he didn't even need to look to know that Akai was talking to him. "This is necessary for the strategy to succeed."

Silence met his statement. The boy's expression hadn't changed at all, but there was something that let the adult know that he had accepted it, even if he couldn't bring himself to like it.

"So, are you coming along?" the adult's voice came from the doorway now. "We should get going. I parked a kilometer away, just like we agreed."

"A-Ah, yeah."

After a jerky nod, the kid proceeded to step out of the room and patiently wait for the older guy to follow. Without so much of another word, Akai closed the door behind them with his left hand before leaving, causing the child to blink.

He then shook his head and hurried up to catch up with him, quietly.

There was something amiss, he realized with a faint frown. Something that he feared he was overlooking.

_But what could it be? _he brought his fingers to his chin, as he thought all over again the events that had happened in the course of those two days. _For instance, why was my phone on when I had clearly turned it off the other time?_

It might have been a mistake, maybe he hadn't paid attention enough and somehow did it wrong. Maybe he turned it on at some point and didn't quite register it... Nevertheless, it was weird. So incredibly weird that he...

"You're a weird one, boy," it wasn't until the man spoke that he realized he had been so deeply immersed in his own thoughts ─ Akai's Chevrolet was already in sight. "You have clearly been suspicious of me yesterday, and now you trust me enough to get in a car with me, alone."

Conan shrugged, not particularly bothered by the fact that this person had caught on it. "And you're an FBI agent that's willing to listen to the ramblings of an eight year-old," he pointed out.

"A very peculiar eight year-old. If I didn't know any better, I'd have believed you're older than that."

Conan made a face. "Please, don't joke about that."

Akai looked as if he wanted to ask about the story behind that reaction but ultimately decided not to say another word ─ an action that Conan was incredibly grateful for ─ just so he could open the driver's door.

For some reason, it caught the child's eye.

"You're left-handed," it came out as a surprised statement.

"Actually, I'm ambidextrous," the man replied right away.

Conan stared for a moment more than needed. "Oh," then, with a nod he opened the other door. "You do seem to have a preference to your left hand, though."

"You think so?" he chuckled lightly. "I didn't notice it myself."

The kid glared a bit, unable to understand what that man had found so funny, but the person on the receiving end seemed to be barely affected by that, simply starting up the car.

"It's quite unusual for a kid to be so observant," the man continued after a moment of driving. "To the smallest detail."

"I've always been this, I guess," his head turned to the side, still partly annoyed, looking at the side to the many cars in the street. "Is it wrong?"

"Of course not, if you're careful, that is," having spotted the car they were supposed to trail, Akai smiled to himself. "There are so many people that would be more than willing to land their hands in such a brilliant, young boy."

Frowning slightly, Conan took into his words before his eyes suddenly spotted something on the rearview mirror. _Platinum blonde long hair, _he observed the biker following them.

He didn't need to say anything to know that Akai had also taken notice of her, if the way he went serious all of sudden was something to go by. _It's Vermouth, _they chorused, in their minds, and Akai smirked...

Before he grabbed into the wheel, tightly, and sped up, narrowly passing by so many cars so easily that it would make the one and only Fujimine Yukiko envious. He was quickly approaching the FBI's vehicle, and Conan could already see the bike that had marked it. It was a man. _Is that Korn? _there was no other choice, he thought.

The moment both Korn and Vermouth seemed to take another road, giving up chasing that car, Conan let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Akai, who had remained calm throughout it all ─ as if there had been no doubt in his mind that everything would go according to plan ─ smirked wider, if possible and turned left, so he could park and wait for Camel's call.

And when he received it, Conan observed that Akai had used his left hand to pick it up ─ again.

"Thanks," the agent said to the person on the other side of the line. "Good job."

Then, he hung out. Conan and Akai exchanged a knowing look, not needing a word to convey what they both knew.

"Good job to you too, boy. Your plan ended up being a success."

"It was yours, too," Conan smiled, crossing his arms behind his head as he leaned back in the passenger seat. "It's nice to work with you, Akai-san."

"Don't get used to it," visually amused, he placed his phone back on his pocket ─ left hand again, Conan didn't let that detail escape him. "Next time, you should let us, the FBI, handle everything."

"Because it's dangerous?" Akai nodded at that, as he started the car again. "Then why did you let me in your car?"

"I've known people like you," Conan didn't quite expect something like that. "Once you're left with your own devices, there's not knowing what you're going to do next."

His surprised expression vanished into thin air, his eyelid twitching at the implications, before he huffed, turning to look outside. "Why do you care about what I do?" he grumbled, annoyed.

"Well, if I let something happen to you, there's a certain someone that wouldn't let me live it down."

Blinking, the boy turned to look at the man, annoyance now completely gone and replaced with curiosity. "Do you mean Ran-neechan?" he questioned, faintly remembering that Akai and Ran had met at least twice. Both times she had been just crying, which made him wonder if he had looked up into her or something to know she was scary beyond a doubt.

The agent didn't offer him an answer beyond a slight shrug of his shoulders, which made the child frown and look back into the road, a thoughtful look taking hold of his eyes.

"You're not hiding something from me, are you?

Akai glanced at him from the corner of his eye for a second, before returning to the road. "We all hide things from everyone," he settled with an ambiguous answer. "Even you, kid."

The child sighed, heavily.

"Look, I know you're from the FBI, meaning there's stuff that you have to hide from everyone, but..." he looked at him in the eye, the frown still there. "Could you just answer this? And don't lie to me."

To Akai, it was astonishing how genuine the concern glimmering behind the boy's glasses was, even if had really gotten to know him for a little over a day.

"Your life is not in danger, is it?"

Frankly speaking, Akai wasn't completely sure how to answer that question at first, but didn't let it show. His ever confident smirk remained in place, though.

Only that Conan didn't really know if it could be trusted.

"My life is _always _in danger," he was straightforward as he said that.

Yet Conan understood what he really meant. He had, after all, been working with them under the codename of Rye until he had been kicked out. Despite it, he hadn't gone undercover. He had been living as his own person, with little-to-no consequence.

If he was still alive, he couldn't see the reason why it would be any different now.

So, he forced himself to nod. Even if his gut was still screaming at him otherwise.

* * *

"So she was from the CIA, huh?" commented Haibara, as an afterthought. "That announcer, Mizunashi Rena."

"Yeah," Conan nodded, a smile etched in his face. "With her now back in the Black Organization again, at least it's in sight... Their destruction."

The girl in question gave him a long, blank look while they crossed the street, before sighing, her eyes fixing in the rest of their group of friends, plus Agasa, walking several feet ahead.

"I hope you are well aware you shouldn't underestimate them. Especially Gin."

"Yeah, it's not like you told me that a thousand times already," he rolled his eyes, before holding the soccer ball, which he had been carrying under his arm, between his two hands and started juggling with it. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Do you, really?"

He decided not to answer that.

"So? Did they say if that Eisuke guy went into the Witness Protection Program?"

"No, I heard he didn't like the idea. It seems the FBI is still trying to persuade him, though."

She fixed her gaze on the sidewalk he was walking in. "No surprise," she muttered. "I refused as well."

"Well, you have become a different person, it's no wonder people don't like it," he paused, holding the ball in his hands for a moment. "... It's not, like, the saner idea, but..."

"What are you implying there?"

"A-Anyway, he's with Jodie-sensei and Akai-san now, so he should be alright."

Haibara smiled a bit. "This Akai person..." she commented. "I want to meet him at least once."

She didn't miss the way he flinched. "Why?" he did his best to keep his voice even.

"No matter how clever you are, you're still in elementary school. A smart and capable FBI member listening to the ramblings of a child... Doesn't that interest you?"

"No, not really."

After a brief moment of confusion, her eyebrow rose. "Why is that?" she questioned, her tone very plain and dull. "Is there a reason I shouldn't meet him?"

_You mean other than the fact that he basically became your sister's lover so he could get into the Organization, therefore causing her death?_

"Hey."

"H-He isn't as interesting as it sounds, really. All he does is stand there with an arrogant smirk, barely talking..." then, he continued in a whisper. "... Heard he's a bit crazy, too."

Her expression barely changed as she studied him for a moment, before looking up ahead and walking faster, passing by him in an instant. "If you think I'm so stupid to believe something like that," she glanced at him from over her shoulder. "I might also be stupid enough to burn that copy of _The Sign of Four _you lent me last week, to ashes, by complete accident."

"... You wouldn't _dare..._"

"Wouldn't I?"

"I knew you were evil but that's way over the line, Ai-san-!"

"EH?!"

Both children stopped on their tracks, completely forgetting about the banter they were having to blink, dumbfounded, at the three kids that were now staring at them, eyes so wide with shock that made Conan shift, uncomfortably.

Haibara seemed to be hardly affected by their intense gazes, though.

"Conan..." Genta breathed out.

"... didn't you just..." Ayumi was quite surprised by the looks of it.

"... call Haibara-san by her first name?!" and Mitsuhiko was, undoubtedly, the most stunned out of the group, pointing at them both with a scandalized look on his face.

Conan took a step back. "W-Well..." he stammered. "I kind of did, didn't I?"

"But why?!"

He glanced briefly at the girl in question, as if pleading for help, to which she didn't react, just continued gazing at him with an indecipherable look. _Thanks for nothing, _he groaned, before turning to look back at his friends.

"... She gave me permission...?" it sounded weak, even in his ears.

"That's weird..." pondered Genta, more confused than agitated about the fact. "I thought only Ayumi was allowed to call her that."

"When did you get so close with Haibara-san, Conan-kun?!" Mitsuhiko didn't seem like he would get over it anytime soon, though.

Ayumi just watched, quietly still, as the boy's cheeks acquired a lovely rosy colour. "Don't say things like that!" his voice rose a bit higher than usual. "I didn't-!"

"Certainly, I don't remember..." Conan's loud protest came into a sudden stop when Haibara's plain, bored voice broke through. "... ever giving you permission, Conan-kun."

His eyes darted to her, mouth open yet no word coming out. She simply shrugged, an amused smile crossing her features, before walking by the boys without so much of another word, only followed by Ayumi who, after taking a moment to give Conan a last thoughtful look, she continued on walking.

The brown haired girl gazed at her friend for a second, before a sweet smile crossed her face. "Aren't you glad, Ai-chan?"

"About what?"

"You and Conan-kun are getting along again," Ayumi continued, grin unwavering. "I have been so worried about you two!"

The scientist studied the young girl for a moment, bewildered upon realizing how genuine her smile just now looked. "It doesn't bother you?" she breathed out, shocked.

"I must admit I'm a bit jealous..." she gazed at the ground, smile wavering for a second, before coming back at full-force. "But you two are part of my dearest friends, I couldn't stand seeing you acting so distant from each other!"

It took a moment for Ai to compose herself, but the shock never truly receded. She just masked it with an amused smirk, eyes focusing back on the road ahead. "You're amazing, Ayumi-chan," she admitted, in a soft voice. "Truly."

That seemed to confuse Ayumi, if the way she blinked owlishly was something to go by.

"Don't worry, though. I have no interest in Conan-kun," she added, with a non-chantlant tone despite the fact that the tip of her lips were twitching upwards. "I'd even gift wrap and hand him over to you, if it ever came to that."

"Ai-chan, don't be so mean!"

Meanwhile the bespectacled boy just continued staring at the two girls laughing amongst each other a few feet ahead. Not minding the weird looks his two friends were giving him, he felt his eyebrow twitching. _She didn't say 'Kudo-kun,' _he reminisced. _She called me 'Conan-kun', didn't she?_

Agasa could only laugh, nervously, telling the group they needed to get moving, even if they wouldn't stop staring at the young sleuth, who had huffed irritably, arms crossed in front of his chest as he downright _glared _at the scientist in front of him.

_... What am I supposed to make out of it?!_

Like that the group entered New Beika Hotel, hoping to get a nice day at the buffet, have fun and certainly _not _bump into any dead bodies or something ─ maybe it was Conan who was thinking about death, he guessed he had grown a bit paranoid.

"Amazing! There's so much food!"

"Yeah, there's an endless number of things to choose from!"

"We can all eat as much as we want?!"

"Of course you can," replied Conan, calmly, as he crossed his arms behind his head. "Just make sure not to overdo yourselves."

The three kids cheered, rushing to get some of the food, a sigh escaped the boy as he watched his friends go. "Well, aren't you excited?" asked Ai, walking right beside him.

"It's just food," Conan's boredly looked around. "I would have prefered it if we got to play soccer or-"

He came into a halt, causing Haibara to blink, confused. That feeling got more prominent when the boy started to walk, without saying anything else, but drained when she noticed where he was looking at, and now it was her turn to sigh. "Hey," so she grabbed into his ear before he could get to the desserts' section. "You can't eat dessert first. It's the other way around."

"There's not a law that forbids it... Besides..."

Her eyebrow rose, expectantly.

"It's... cheesecake."

This time, she didn't bother to keep her gaze on him, just pressed a hand against her face while she sighed, as if wondering why she was even trying.

Sounds of a siren caused the two to look away from each other and towards the window, not entirely surprised to see several patrol cars parking right in front of the hotel. Haibara simply gave Conan a pointed look, who groaned, exhausted all of sudden.

Not uttering any further word, the young boy took off running, hoping to catch up with Takagi and, hopefully, drawing out any kind of information from the poor, unsuspecting detective. It went without saying that he succeeded with little-to-no effort, giving out a few clues for him to gather suspects in exchange.

Figuring Inspector Megure wouldn't like that, Conan gave him a sheepish grin the moment their eyes connected. It seemed as if he was right, because the man sighed heavily before turning to look at the two men that Takagi had considered suspicious '_because Conan-kun said they were.'_

His friends stood for him, claiming that the inspector had no right to chase him out considering what he had done. Laughing at that for a moment, he focused back on the other people in the room.

Suspects were those men ─ foreigners, fluent in Japanese ─ and his secretary, who had found the body, a foreigner as well and incapable of writing Japanese very well. The victim had been found on his desk, multiple bullet wounds in his torso.

"Inspector!" Detective Chiba burst inside. "We found another one! He's a pretty suspicious sweating foreigner that was hurrying down the stairs!"

Quite frankly, the young detective didn't expect to see Agent Camel anytime soon. Certainly, he would have never imagined that they would see each other not even a day after they said goodbye, in a murder investigation.

Not to say that Camel was a suspect. And was wearing a sweat suit ─ whatever the reason.

By the look he gave him, Conan was pretty sure that the same thoughts were running through the man's head. As he passed by the group, the child stared at him with wide eyes and Camel held his finger close to his mouth, pleading him to keep it down.

_Ah, right... The fact that he's an FBI agent here in Japan is being kept secret from the police..._

_... For how long, though? At this rate..._

He figured the answer was something along the lines of '_not long', _given that he basically told the police that he had been training, since keeping his body in shape was vitally important for his work.

"And?" the question obviously came. "What kind of job do you have?"

Camel froze. Conan sighed.

"There's one obvious reason he won't answer..." when Mitsuhiko spoke from beside him, arms crossed in front of his chest and a focused frown on his face, Conan figured he wouldn't like that. "It's because his job... is clearly..." he then pointed at the agent. "A professional hitman!"

_... How did he jump into that conclusion?_

"Those ugly scratches on your face must've been left by one of your victims!" Ayumi exclaimed, completely convinced by her friend's deduction, causing Camel to unconsciously bring a hand to the band-aids he had all over his face.

"Your face is that of a professional killer!" Genta yelled.

_More like that of a gorilla._

"Well," Haibara closed her eyes. "It's obvious he isn't a tourist, right?"

_... Not you too..._

"That's true," even Agasa decided to offer his opinion to everyone else. "It isn't normal to be training while traveling..."

Camel looked as if he was between the sword and the wall. "This guy is actually-" so Conan decided it fitting to _try _to lend a helping hand to him.

"What is it?" it kind of backfired, since Haibara settled her sharp, suspicious gaze on him. "Do you know him?"

She elbowed him, and soon everyone else was into him.

"Do you really, Conan-kun?! Could he be an internationally wanted criminal?!"

"He's a real bad guy, right?!"

"Yeah, if he was good, he wouldn't be hiding!"

"... Seriously, guys..." Conan backed away from their intense staring. "What kind of movie script have you written in your mind?"

"Then," Haibara's eyes narrowed. "What is the true story?"

The boy did his absolute best to not flinch and to let out a fairly coherent reply to that question but, sadly, he didn't succeed.

"Just as the kids said, unless you have something to hide..." Megure pressed further. "You can tell us what your job is."

Camel certainly didn't succeed either. Noticing this, the bespectacled boy had no other choice but to quietly slip away from the group and pull out his phone. _Why do I always have to solve everyone's problems? _he mentally huffed, looking through his recent contacts for Jodie's phone number.

His eyes fell on the name that was on top and he paused. _Come to think of it, he called the other day all of sudden at the hospital, _he pondered. _Guess I forgot to call him back._

_... What did he want, anyway? It hadn't been long since he last called..._

"Answer my question! What kind of job do you have?!"

Deciding he would deal with that later, he snapped out of it and contacted Jodie, who thanked him and promised she would be there as soon as humanly possible.

So, ending the call, the young boy sighed for the eleventh ─ or was it twelveth? ─ time this hour.

_What a pain._

* * *

A/N:

Gamelover41592: Mostly in order to protect him. If they ever found out that Akai was actually alive, and that Conan knew all along, it could be dangerous.

CherryGirl 21-6: Well, I guess you can try to guess... But most of the time not even _I _know I'm going to do it XD


	69. The Clash of Red and Black

**File Sixty-Nine: The Clash of Red and Black**

"Conan, what is it? It's weird for you to call..."

"What are you talking about? You called before and I couldn't answer. I'm just calling you back."

By the corner of his eye, he took a brief glance to Camel's direction, who was still being pressured into confessing what kind of work he had. For less than a second, he caught the man giving him a pleading look, to which he replied with an apologetic one of his own, mouthing the words '_hang in there', _as in a feeble attempt to comfort him that wasn't reassuring enough.

"Ah, yeah, I guess I did that..." the voice from the phone said.

Conan let out a heavy sigh. He had initially been concerned that it was an emergency, given his unusual call, but from his reaction just now, he figured it was probably nothing.

"If you forgot, that means it wasn't important, and you just intended to annoy me."

"I didn't forget-"

"You were surprised I called you back."

"You _never _call me back."

"As a matter of fact, _I do._"

"Why couldn't you answer it, anyway?" questioned Shinichi, abruptly. "Ran said you were at the Professor's," then he added, with an almost recriminating tone. "You weren't doing anything risky, were you?"

Actually, the child paused at that. He hoped his brother didn't notice.

"Of course not, idiot," he rushed to think of a believable excuse. "I was helping Ai-san out with her new cat."

Silence suddenly met his ears, causing the young boy to blink and think over his words. _I didn't mess up, did I? _he wondered, but then realized that there was nothing particularly suspicious that was telltale enough of his lie.

"Are we talking about the same Ai-chan?" there was something in the high school detective's voice that Conan genuinely didn't like.

"... Yes?" he blinked. "If it's about the cat, I'm pretty sure you already knew."

"Yeah, Ran told me."

"Then?"

"As far as _I _knew..." with the teasing tone his voice had gained, Conan was pretty sure he could somehow picture his expression right now ─ a wide, teasing grin popped into his mind and caused his eyebrow to twitch by pure instinct. "... you have never called her like _that_, have you?"

At the sound of a terribly frustrated groan, all four children turned around to blink at their friend, confused at the way he rubbed his face, as if suddenly feeling exhausted, or the sight of his ears, that were completely red for some reason.

_It completely slipped from my mouth. _He mentally groaned, cursing himself for saying it in front of _him. _Of all people.

"I have only one question... Why?"

_... Why does everyone keep asking that?_

"So?" Shinichi pressed after a moment of silence.

"So what?" the boy growled at him. "You said nothing when I started calling Ayumi-chan by her first name."

"We both know _that's _different, right?"

"Hardly."

"You're cute when you want to, you know that?"

He was definitely _not _cute, Conan affirmed in his mind. In order to avoid being embarrassed any longer, the kid opted to bite back any other comment. It kind of backfired, though, since that prompted the teenager to laugh even louder.

"Yeah, yeah, keep laughing and I'll make sure you remember this next time we meet."

"No thanks," he stopped abruptly at that. "I doubt I'll like getting my nose broken by a soccer ball."

Conan perked up at that. "Ah, speaking of soccer..." he commented, scratching his chin. "I met with one of your soccer friends the other day."

Shinichi certainly noticed the sudden change of topic. "Eh?" but let it go due to his curiosity. "Who was it?"

"How am I supposed to know? I don't have a clue," Conan replied with annoyance ─ even if he was secretly grateful that he had let the other subject go. "He had a bandage wrapped around his head. Said he had injured himself in soccer practice and fainted, so I thought you knew him."

"Ah, that must be Nakamichi!" the teen exclaimed with a laugh. "Definitely tried to do an overhead. Seriously, that's the only person who could land himself into a hospital like that!"

Only silence met his words, and he silently wondered why. Before he could even ask Conan if he _was _still there, his voice rang through:

"... Onii-chan."

"What?"

"I thought we agreed I was at the Professor's."

"W-Well..."

The child frowned, clearly hearing the nervousness in his brother's voice. "So you _were _there," he didn't need to tell him where was '_there'. _"Were you following me?!"

He had gotten far too agitated ─ he realized when all eyes fell on him, to which he waved them off. They returned to their business, and he drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"You _were _there," he repeated, slowier this time. "Why... Why didn't you say anything to me?"

The lack of instant reply only angered Conan even further, but managed to keep it inside. Just listening at the deafening quietness on the other side of the line as his little fingers clenched against the phone.

"Why are we playing this game again? Hide and seek, like it was in the beginning," finally, after a few agonizing seconds of silence, the child let out a rueful smile. "You know, Onii-chan... I genuinely thought... Just this once..." he said in a weak whisper, before his face went serious, and his voice rose. "... I thought you could be honest with me!"

Shinichi made a sound, as if his words had hurt him, but the child couldn't care less at this moment.

"And you know what? I'm sick of it! All you do is lie, lie and then lie again!"

"Conan, I can explain it-"

"Can you?"

Before he could even give the chance to his brother to explain himself, his eyes fell on the door that just opened, revealing a smiling Jodie walking in. "Look," he sighed. "I can't listen to you right now. I'm in the middle of a case."

Shinichi was strangely quiet, not even trying to offer any explanation.

"But I _will _listen, okay?" the child assured him. "We'll have a long talk about this later."

"... We will," the older brother agreed. "But not now... Not in a long time either."

The bespectacled boy's lips pressed against each other.

"You see," he continued, with a small, awkward laugh. "I'll be busy for the next few days so..."

He trailed down into silence, which the kid didn't even bother to break. He just stood there, phone pressed against his ear and hand gripping tightly the device. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

"Conan?"

The sound of the call being disconnected was all the high school detective had as an answer.

With a long, heavy sigh, he gave the phone in his hand one last glare before joining the rest in the center of the room. At that point, Jodie had already told everyone that Camel was an FBI agent, he had shown the police his identification, and the rest was gaping, shocked beyond belief at the course of events.

Their shock only intensified when she blatantly declared herself his lover ─ she said Camel had come to look for her because her insanely long stay in Japan had worried him. _Well... _he stared at them, blankly. _Not bad, I guess..._

"Thank you, Conan-kun," whispered Jodie, kneeling in front of him as she passed by him. "For letting me know."

The jerky nod he offered in return seemed to satisfy the teacher, who smiled at the child before walking away, dragging Camel with her to the corner of the room. _He still is a suspect for the police. _He glanced at them from over his shoulder for a moment. _But he should be safe for now..._

He looked back ahead, with all the intention to give the body another look, only to pause and stare at the pair of serious eyes that were staring at him from close, blocking his view. Understandably, he blinked.

"Mitsuhiko?" Conan was genuinely confused. "Is something the matter?"

Mitsuhiko frowned, and now the other boy was beginning to feel a tad uncomfortable.

"Are you going to keep staring at me or-?" Conan's eyebrow rose.

"How do you know that other FBI agent?"

That question he didn't expect left the boy speechless, staring at his friend standing in front of him with wide, surprised eyes that gave everything away. He tried to say anything, he really did, but before that another pair of curious gazes fell on him from over Mitsuhiko's shoulder.

"He helped the FBI," it was Haibara, though, the first one to speak up. "That should be obvious by first sight."

He genuinely wanted to call her out for telling them such a thing, but figured out that she was right ─ it _was _awfully obvious. _Better get that out of the way_, he figured.

"EH?!" both Ayumi and Genta exclaimed. "You-!"

"Shh!" Conan hissed at them, then continued in a lower volume. "Do you really want everyone to know _that _much?"

Luckily, every other adult currently was far too preoccupied with the scene of crime to pay attention to a group of elementary school kids chatting with each other.

"Why didn't you say something, huh?" Genta crossed his arms in front of his chest, visually offended. "Are we not worth knowing?"

"Don't be stupid," Conan rolled his eyes. "Not even the police is supposed to know they are investigating stuff, so you better keep your mouth shut or else-"

"But it's so cool!" exclaimed Ayumi, a bit too loud for Conan's liking. "You're like a secret agent!"

"What did I just say?!"

Shaking her head with a soft smile on her face, Ai continued to observe the situation developing in front of her eyes. A frantic Conan desperately trying to calm down a very excited Ayumi, and to subside an angry Genta was a sight that amused her to no belief.

Her smile dimmed, however, when her eyes fell on the other member of their little detective club. He was listening to Conan's explanations alright, but there was something else. If it was the way his eyebrows knitted together in some expression akin to concern, or his eyes were gazing at somewhere far away, that she couldn't see, Haibara wasn't certain.

There was something that the scientist couldn't deny, however. That boy was scared for motives she couldn't hope to understand.

* * *

Detective Mouri Kogoro sighed, all but collapsing in his little stool in a bar as he raised his hand to the bartender without even looking at him, asking him to give him '_the usual'._

_I sure am unlucky today, _he lamented in his mind, unable to get around his head that the horse he had bet on had lost, _again._

He had been so sure that it would be the winner today... Should he try another one next time? ─ Mouri sighed once more. _If at least I could get another lead to that case, too._

Reaching down for his pocket, he pulled out a photograph he had stared at so many times already. A generic-looking man was staring back at him, and Kogoro could only shake his head in return. _Anything concerning this guy over here._

Investigating further, Megure and he had found out that Jackal had been spotted a lot throughout the last year, most of the time in KID's heists. Every single instance, certain witnesses would claim that he would go confront the thief surrounded by several other men in black ─ supposedly, his under-men ─ demanding him to hand over whatever jewel he was attempting to steal.

They had identified one of those under-men ─ hadn't been careful enough and got his face caught by a security camera. And his face was now in Kogoro's hand.

Now, if he could _somehow _find out more about that guy.

"Uh, sir?" the bartender asked, and it was now that Kogoro realized he couldn't recognize his voice. "I'm kind of new around here, so I have no idea what to get you."

"Ah, sorry," he raised his head. "I'll get-"

He froze into place as soon as his eyes fell on the man in front of him, who just stood there blinking. Kogoro did the same, slowly lowering his head to look at the photo in his hand, before looking at the bartender once more. He noticed he was looking at the photograph as well, and sweating bullets.

No wonder, since their faces were _exactly _the same.

Kogoro's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey," he didn't miss the way the guy in front of him flinched. "Do you know someone that goes by the name of-?"

Certainly, he didn't expect the bartender to jump over the counter and try to make it out of the bar.

What the guy didn't expect, though, was that he would get judo-thrown into the floor, and immobilized, before he could make it two steps away from his original spot.

* * *

Apparently, the note the victim had written before death, that the culprit had taken with him, read '_Bring my tux,' _in English. That had confused Conan more than ever before ─ why would that possibly incriminate someone? He couldn't see it.

"U-Umm," at some point Hal Buckner, an English teacher, spoke up. "If we're just waiting, I really need to leave in two hours. The class I'm in charge of starts very soon."

"May I please go to the hotel reception?" the victim's secretary, Irina Palmer, who couldn't read or write Japanese well, timidly questioned. "I have to cancel many appointments, and we may find out about the people the president met today."

"That's true..." Jodie commented, before turning to Megure. "I guess it won't be a problem if they're accompanied by a detective?"

The inspector agreed, even if he had to tell Hal that he would have to give up his lesson. Like so, the teacher left to inform the principal and Irina to do what she had told them she would, accompanied by Takagi and Chiba each.

But then Toby Keynes, a model, scoffed. "Someone was just killed here," he shook his head. "And they're worried about lessons and parties?"

At those words, Conan's eyes went wide open as they shifted to him. _I see. _Realization struck him. _So that was it! That's why he..._

"Don't you agree, inspector?"

Before the inspector could emit any kind of opinion, his phone suddenly went off, causing him to pause and take it out of his pocket. One glance at the screen was all it took for him to sigh, as if drained, and excuse himself to the corner of the room.

"_What the hell?" _Jodie's voice, in English, rang in the child's ears, taking his attention away from the inspector.

"What's wrong?" he asked, curiously.

"I thought Shuu might know the meaning of that tuxedo memo, but..."

Conan opened his mouth to speak, to tell her they probably didn't need his help because he had solved it, when he paused. Jodie was a FBI agent, he reminded himself. One whose face was known by the Organization ─ at least by Vermouth...

If the worst were to happen when she was on her own, in her way out, she would be without a way to communicate... She wouldn't be able to ask for help. _Then..._

"I can't reach him because my cell phone hasn't been working right since this morning..."

Shaking his head, and scolding himself for thinking the worst-case scenario again, Conan took his phone out of his pocket. He gave it a hard, long look before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Jodie-sensei," he called, with a smile on his face. "Why don't you just borrow mine for a while?"

"Is that okay? Aren't your friends' messages and phone numbers inside?"

"It's alright, I cleared all of my mail data recently..."

As a matter of fact, he never kept his mail data stored for long, mostly for paranoia issues honestly ─ he dreaded to think of what people would do with that information if he ever lost it.

"... and if I remove my cell phone's sim card," he continued, as he did exactly as he was telling her. "You won't be able to see the phone numbers," he offered it to her. "Just put yours in there and you'll be done."

"But..." hesitantly, she accepted it. "Won't be a problem if you don't have a cell phone?"

"It's fine!" he smiled widely. "I have another one," as a matter of fact he did, even if it was shaped as an earring for reasons Conan would never be able to understand. "Besides, I don't need to call _anybody _right now."

She was puzzled at that ─ Jodie could've sworn that his smile had become a bit more sinister than innocent for less than a second. Whatever that was, it was gone right away, so she shrugged it off with a smile of her own and thanked the kid.

"But, that's strange, isn't it?" the kid added, confusing the teacher for a moment. "They have different shapes outside, but on the inside, they're the cell phones we're used to."

Jodie looked back at his phone, contemplating it for a moment, before while his friends questioned what in the world he meant with that. "We can't judge a book by its cover?" at the clueless looks he received by the other kids, Conan sighed, tiredly. "Look at Camel-san over there," the agent flinched at the mention of his name. "He has a very scary look, yet he's still with the FBI."

Camel winced, but didn't emit any opinion. The three children kept staring at his soul, not understanding what he was talking about.

"_Oh, thank you!_" Jodie cried in English while she smiled at the child. "Because of you, I figured out the mystery of the memo!"

Conan gave her a sheepish grin and nodded childishly.

"You did what?!"

Blinking in confusion, Conan's ─ and everyone else's, for that matter ─ eyes fell on the inspector in the room's corner, who was rubbing his face for some reason. Upon realizing that he had gathered a bit too much attention, he laughed nervously. "I'll be there as fast as I can," then he said to the phone, with a friendlier voice. "Just let me wrap this up, okay?"

With that, Megure disconnected the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket, sighing.

"Is something the matter?" seeing all that, Agasa asked him.

"Ah, no. It's nothing," Megure said, a bit too quickly. "It's about... my wife."

The bespectacled child gave the adult a very odd look at that, but let it slide. Instead, he turned to him, hands wrapped together behind his back. "Say, Inspector," he offered him a childish smile. "You need to solve this quickly, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah..." he muttered, unable to see his point.

"Why don't you try this, then? You only need one word for it to work. Well, some preparations as well, but I promise it will be quick."

Megure blinked, then kneeled down when Conan said he would whisper it to him. The way his face fell after hearing whatever he had said, his friends and Agasa got seriously curious, so they insisted, over and over, to let them know.

He hesitated.

"Don't keep it to yourself, Conan!"

"Yeah, just-!"

"Don't laugh, okay?"

Disconcerted blinking was all the answer Conan got so, with a long heavy sigh, he leaned forward and whispered. Of course, being the good friends they were, they all laughed emphatically, without exception.

"You liar!" Ayumi managed to get out through her amusement.

"You're such an idiot!" Conan did his best ─ but failed ─ to pretend that Genta's comment didn't annoy him as much as it did.

"If culprits could be identified like this, we'd no longer need the police!" Mitsuhiko laughed.

Conan's eyebrow twitched in response and looked away with a bit of a huff. _I figured they would say that, _but it didn't make him like it any better.

"And?" Haibara raised an eyebrow. "What are you really going to say?"

"Tell us without the jokes," Agasa smiled.

"I..." he shifted, clearly uncomfortable. "... was serious about what I said."

"... Seriously?"

* * *

"How is it going?"

"As it should," replied the agent, with a bit of a smirk, as he drove by the darkened streets of Haido City towards his destination ─ Akai Shuichi's _last _destination, he realized nonchalantly. "We agreed to meet tonight at 7 PM."

Shinichi hummed at that. "So in a little over an hour," he thought out loud. "Where is it? Remember, you're supposed to arrive early, before her."

"The seventh left curve along the Raiha Pass."

The detective was barely surprised ─ on that pass, so late, there would be few cars passing by, making it the perfect place for a clandestine meeting. "Raiha Pass, huh?" nevertheless, he couldn't help but laugh, dryly. "That's... fitting, I guess."

"Fitting?"

"Well, yeah... Raiha sounds a lot like-"

"Reichenbach Falls. The place where Sherlock Holmes and his enemy Moriarty fell to their death," he shrugged. "Except that Holmes didn't die there."

There was a pause, a long one, before Shinichi got his voice back. "You read it?"

"You're not the only one that likes Arthur Conan Doyle."

"... A-Ah, I see..."

It was silent for a moment, confusing Akai, even if he didn't let the detective know. Then, finally, there was a long sigh coming from the other side of the phone, letting him know the other was still there.

"Did you know? Any other day, I'd have said that there's no way someone that likes Holmes could be a bad person, but..." Shinichi's voice went deadly serious. "I hope you know none of this means I've forgiven you... for using Akemi-san."

Silence met Shinichi's statement, and a tight frown replaced Akai's smirk as he glared at the road in front of him. "I'm aware," his response was short, yet it was enough for Shinichi.

The teen paused for a moment, as if debating what to say next, before the sounds of pages being flipped could be heard from Akai's phone. "Then, if the meeting is going to take place at the seventh left curve along Raiha Pass," he mumbled to himself as he seemed to look through a map. "I should report a traffic accident around... here. Now, about the timing..."

Akai listened as the detective whispered and rambled to himself and suppressed a chuckle. "It seems everything is going according to plan..." the agent spoke up, causing Shinichi's words to come to a halt. "Except for something."

"Huh?" he asked, worried, before grimacing. "Please, don't tell me that Conan..."

Raising an eyebrow, although he couldn't be seen, he replied quickly. "No," he heard Shinichi letting out a breath of relief. "James found out," at that, the teen seemed to groan. "But don't worry. He can be trusted."

"If you say so..." the sound of pages flipping resumed. "Call me when you're nearby. I need to take care of more stuff here..."

"Understood."

* * *

"Is he really going to say it?" questioned Ayumi.

"There's no way!" Genta was certain.

"They would just laugh if he did," Mitsuhiko agreed with his friend.

Conan glared at them from the corner of his eye. _It's not that stupid, _he tried to convince himself, as he crossed his arms behind his head. _At least, Inspector Megure doesn't think so..._

"Now that you're all four gathered there... First..."

Contrary to what he had tried to convince himself, Megure hesitated, blushing over the stupidity he was going to say to the four suspects that stood in front of him, in front of the chairs. _Hey, hey... _Conan took offense in the way the inspector acted, but just huffed and stood there, quietly.

"Shiranpuri!"

Child laughter filled the room entirely, then died down suddenly upon the sight that met everyone's eyes ─ Toby Keynes was standing there, cluelessly staring at the other three suspects that had all sat down.

Conan couldn't fight the smug grin that crossed his features as he gave his group of incredulous friends a brief look, before turning to Jodie, who explained everything.

Keynes wasn't a foreigner, just Japanese, resulting in him only understanding the original meaning of _shiranpuri, _'play innocent', instead of the English phrase '_sit down, please' _that anyone used to live overseas would understand, especially if they were standing in front of a row of chairs.

That was why he had taken out the memo ─ he didn't know what it meant. He had been hoping to ask someone the meaning, so he had placed it inside his jacket, and remained there until the moment the police checked him over. Thus, he was forced to confess to the crime. The victim had tricked his American girlfriend into signing a contract in Japanese that he didn't understand, forcing to overwork herself until her death. Because of the contract, his brother was to be held responsive if she could not continue working, so Keynes wanted to save him from such a cruel fate.

Whatever happened in the past, the case was closed now, to which Conan was definitely grateful for. These last few days had been pretty agitated, so he was glad to go back home and spend a hopefully peaceful night.

"That was so cool, the way the culprit was revealed."

"Yeah! It was just like a magic spell!"

"But wasn't that guy an idiot? For keeping a note that had nothing to do with the case..."

"... I thought _I _was the idiot."

Flinching violently, the three children whirled around to see their friend who downright glared at them, arms crossed in front of his chest as if expecting them to say something to defend themselves. When they didn't, his eyebrow rose, causing the three to give out a nervous laugh.

"I'm sorry!" they chorused.

His expression didn't change more than a slight narrow of his eyes, before huffing and walking away, looking quite offended still.

"Drama queen," Haibara rolled her eyes as she joined the group.

Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta nodded in agreement, a tad dumbfounded.

"I wonder if he got it from his parents," Genta questioned.

"From his mother, definitely," nodded Mitsuhiko. "Living out of dramatics..."

"Do you think that's the case with Shinichi-niisan, too?" Ayumi added.

"I can still hear you, guys," groaned Conan, sticking his hands inside his pockets.

The rest of his group either didn't hear or didn't care about it, because they continued on and on. _Thanks, guys, _he thought, sarcastically. _Glad you always have my back._

"What the-? Why isn't he answering?" his attention drifted away from his friends to Jodie, who was grumbling to herself, as she held his phone to her ear. "I even went to the trouble of borrowing Conan-kun's phone to call him... He isn't picking up, that Shuu..." she huffed, before turning to the child who was still staring at them. "Sorry, Conan-kun, but is it really okay, for me to keep this until tomorrow?"

"As long as you don't break it or anything," he shrugged, blinking at her for a second. "But is there something wrong with Akai-san?"

"He's probably taking a nap," Camel reassured the kid. "It seems he didn't sleep much during that case."

Conan hummed, as if pondering over his words. "I see," he mumbled, quietly.

"Conan-kun!" Ayumi's voice resounded in his ears. "We're about to leave!"

"Hurry up!" exclaimed Genta, impatiently. "We're going to leave you behind!"

"I'm actually considering it, you know," he stated blankly, as he gave them a plain look.

"What? You're still mad?"

"Yeah, quite a bit," though the grin in his face betrayed him.

So, with a nod and a wave, he bid goodbye to the two agents before rushing to meet his friends. Pleased that this adventure seemed to be wrapped up, he climbed up the car and settled right next to Mitsuhiko.

* * *

Shinichi put the phone down, sighing as he tiredly leaned against the windshield of a borrowed motorbike ─ taken without asking first, actually, but who cared really? Besides the original owner, of course.

_Random report of traffic accident, check, _he listed in his mind, taking off that annoying voice-changing choker that he had used, so not to be recognized. _Seems like everything is ready._

_... It's all up to your acting skills, Akai-san._

Checking the time on his phone, he realized that there was still a bit of time until 7 PM. _Considering how long it takes the police to get here, and that Gin likes the job to be done quickly... I'd say that the timing will be right. _He continued to think over the plan. _Akai-san made sure to show Jodie that he grabbed Conan's phone when I called..._

His thoughts came into a violent pause at the thought of that certain child, and his fingers started moving on their own. His eyes softened at that particular photo that he still had on his phone. A photograph that Ran had sent him a couple of years ago, before all this mess, that she had found in her home while cleaning the house.

It was impressive how different thirteen-year-old Shinichi looked, in contrast to the current one. His eyes were full of life, full of dreams ─ he hadn't seen everything seventeen-year-old Shinichi had, and that was clear by the grin that stretched from side to side of his face, which was... different somehow. Ran was at his side, with the same pure, beautiful smile that had always been head over hills for. And there also was...

_... Conan..._

In the middle of the two teenagers was Conan ─ sweet, innocent little Conan. Looking at the camera with bright, curious eyes and an adorable, sunny smile.

It went without saying that that photo had been taken on their first day of school. Little had he known then how much their life was going to change a few weeks after that.

"_I'm sick of it! All you do is lie, lie and then lie again!"_

His words were fresh in his mind, and they still stung a little.

The worst part of it all was that the child was right ─ absolutely right. And, certainly, he didn't deserve this. He deserved a happy and healthy childhood, not being held at gunpoint every single week. Not being tricked and lied over and over, forcing him to go out his way to figure out everything by himself.

Honestly, Shinichi would be more than willing to be sincere with him.

But if keeping his little brother in the dark protected him from danger, he would take it ─ Conan's anger towards him, the ache of his own heart, all of it.

But first, there was something that had to be done ─ if that phone was to end in the wrong hands… He couldn't have something like that stored in there. So, like many other nights, his finger hovered over the 'delete' button.

And, like all those nights, Shinichi sighed and put his phone away before he could commit the deal.

Looking back ahead, he noticed a car arriving, several kilometers away from his current position ─ so that Gin and Vodka, who were undoubtedly hanging around, would see him. Kir stepped up and leaned against it, checking her wristwatch. _So she came early, huh? It shouldn't be long for Akai-san..._

True to his predictions, Akai's Chevrolet pulled in front of hers. The agent stepped out, hands in his pockets, and exchanged a look with Hidemi.

Shinichi's eyes narrowed.

* * *

"I'm home!"

"About time! What were you doing out so late?"

Conan closed the door behind him and gave Ran an innocent look. "I ran into a murder case," he stated, shrugging.

She sighed, tiredly, as she stood up from the couch ─ muttering under her breath something about being '_just like his detective-freak brother', _which he ignored on purpose so he could walk closer to her.

"And Dad should have been back by now, too..." she complained, shaking her head, almost irritated. "There's no helping it, he will have to go without dinner tonight."

"I don't think he will need it," he stated, with a sheepish smile. "He's probably just going to pass out on the couch drunk later."

Much to her displeasure, she couldn't really tell the child he was wrong. So she huffed, annoyed as if her father's inevitable drunken arrival had already happened and went to make something for them two.

The kid opened his mouth, with all the intention to tell Ran that he would help her out with that, when his eyes fell on something else. The newspaper the girl had been reading until the moment of his arrival was on the coffee table, open for him to see a random article about New York and the FBI.

"It has been a while, eh?" said the girl, upon noticing what had caught his attention. "From the time we met that FBI agent in New York."

"Yeah," Conan's eyes were still glued on the newspaper. "There was that other time, too. We crossed him around February."

Ran nodded at that, her gaze falling on the window momentarily as he recalled that time. She had been crying, just like the first time they met, and Akai had walked out of a telephone box.

"_You remind me of a woman. One that always cries in the dark trying to appear normal... A foolish woman."_

_I wonder who he was talking about? _Ran wondered, frowning at the memory, before silently making her way to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Conan did not react to her odd actions, just continued staring at the 'FBI' word that was covering a good part of the page.

Everything was fine at the moment. Mizunashi Rena had returned as planned and everything had gone exactly as he had expected...

But why was he feeling like there was something he had overlooked?

* * *

_Bang!_

Kir's gaze remained impassive, silently watching as Akai stumbled backwards, one hand on his chest and the other still firmly placed in his pocket. It wasn't long until blood began to leak from the wound, soaking his shirt entirely with red.

Even if nobody would survive a bullet piercing his lung, Gin wouldn't wait any longer. "The head," Kir stayed silent, her gun still pointing at the troublesome FBI agent. "Drive a bullet right into his head."

Not even thinking of disobeying him, Kir slowly approached Akai, who seemed to struggle to breathe. Her pulse did not waver as she pointed at his forehead.

The FBI agent's gaze rose to meet hers. He smirked.

"To think you'd go this far..."

"I'm surprised myself," she sneered at him. "That it's worked out... this well."

_Bang!_

Kudo Shinichi didn't even flinch at the sound of another gunshot, just stayed there, silent, watching everything developing in front of his eyes exactly like he had predicted it would.

The sounds of police cars filled the air barely a second after Hidemi shot, causing her to turn her body around and see them for herself.

Her car left right away. Gin's Porsche, that had been parked a distance away to witness everything, did the same thing. And then an explosion took place.

As he watched the flames dancing in front of his eyes, Shinichi felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Calmly, he took it out and studied the text message he had just received. He didn't fight the satisfactory smirk that crossed his lips the moment he read it:

"_Mission Accomplished."_


	70. A Crucial Mistake

**File Seventy: A Crucial Mistake**

Kogoro was startled awake. In the darkness of the night, he struggled to see something, but everything was pitch black. Everything except a bright glow on his bedside table. The fact that it was his phone, and that it was still blaring loudly prompted him to finally wake up.

He barely glanced at the screen before rushing to disconnect the call. _It's four in the morning_, he realized upon looking at the numbers on his screen, and huffed irritably. _And it's Inspector Megure._

Following this, he locked his phone and squinted to see in darkness, sitting quietly still on top of his bed. "Brat, are you awake?" he whispered towards his general direction, but the kid didn't even stir. "... Conan?"

Prompted by the lack of reply coming from the young boy, the man slowly stood up and, as silently as he could, approached Conan's futon. "So you're out cold, huh?" he sighed, almost relieved to see the young boy didn't react and carefully, so not to wake him up, he went around it and slipped away from the room.

It wasn't until the sound of the door closing shut that Conan opened one of his eyes, checking that his roommate had actually left the room before finally sitting up. _What in the world was that? _He thought, tiredly scrubbing at his eyes. _Who would call Occhan at this hour?_

But the real question was why Kogoro had acted like that ─ any other day, the man would have grumbled and turned the phone off before turning back around and continuing snoring. That made the little detective stand up and move closer to the door.

"What?" straining his ears, he could hear Kogoro's whispers coming from the living room. "You got him to talk?"

That weird sentence definitely woke Conan up. He focused on Kogoro's voice, trying to get something out of that conversation that could tell him what was going on, but to no avail. All he got was a few mumbled words he couldn't make out, and then a loud, exhausted sigh.

"Dad?" he heard Ran's bedroom door creaking open. "Who was that?"

Conan froze in place ─ in the night's stillness any kind of movement from his part would give his position away. So, he waited with a bated breath until Kogoro finally spoke, after what it had seemed like hours, even if in fact he had only paused for a mere second.

"Inspector Megure," as if resigned, Kogoro told his daughter. "We got someone that's connected with that guy from the plane the other day. Apparently they worked together."

"Did they say anything?"

"He was terrified to death, so the Inspector only got this," his voice grew deeper and serious. "Even though he's known as Jackal internationally, he has another name. Another name that only a select group of people call him by — Snake. "

The child would have gasped, if he hadn't covered his own mouth just in time.

"Well, it seems like the Inspector was right," Kogoro groaned. "With a name like that, there's no way he's related to that other case..."

"Name?"

"Vermouth, Gin, Singani... It doesn't fit with that theme."

Conan's eyes widened further, if possible. Ran's hum echoed through the air, and the kid dreaded to know what she might be thinking about.

"I remember Shinichi saying once... There's actually something called snake wine-"

"Eh? Really?!"

"Shh! Keep it down, Conan-kun's asleep."

Little did she know that the kid in question was far from asleep. He was standing there instead, ear pressed against the door, horrified beyond belief by the conversation he was listening to. His mind, which usually would be described as quick and brilliant, was clouded by a single thought:

_Oh, no._

"Remember Ran, not a word to anyone about this. You could get yourself in danger."

"I know, Dad... And thank you, for telling me."

Upon hearing Kogoro's steps coming closer to his location, the young boy immediately bolted back to his futon and got under the covers, just in time for Kogoro to walk in.

He stood in the doorway for a long time before closing the door and walking to his bed. Before he did that, he paused by Conan's futon and crouched next to him ─ Conan did his best to keep his breathing even.

Kogoro seemed to study him for a moment, prompting the child to wonder if he had been caught pretending. "This would be much easier if you said something, you know," he heard him huffing, irritably.

Conan wisely didn't answer, just patiently waited for him to leave. His surprise was enormous, however, when he felt the blankets being tucked tightly and gently all around him, but successfully managed to get his reaction under control.

Then, a shuffling at his side told him that Kogoro had gone back to bed, and the snores that filled the room let him know it was safe to open his eyes again. They fixed on a random spot on the ceiling. And, passing a hand through his hair, he sighed tiredly.

_... What am I supposed to do now?_

* * *

"What?" Haibara blinked at the boy beside her. "You're asking me if I know someone with the codename 'Snake'?"

"That's exactly what I've just said."

"From snake wine?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Her eyebrow raised at that. "You're not just pronouncing wine names at random, hoping that you would hit the mark somehow, are you?"

"Of course not." Conan huffed, eyes settling back ahead, where their three friends were laughing amongst each other as they all walked. "I overheard a little something, so I thought..."

"Hey, you," her voice became stern, and her eyes narrowed. "You didn't do something dangerous again, did you?"

"No," he said in a whisper, eyebrows squinting together. "I didn't."

"Then… Who did?"

"... Occhan."

"Eh?"

"Occhan is investigating their member, the one that was in the plane. He's working on it with Inspector Megure, or so I heard." Conan didn't need to glance at the scientist to know the shock that was currently painting her face. "Ran-neechan is aware of it, too."

"Wait… You know what that means, right?" Haibara breathed out. "If word gets around that Detective Mouri is trying to investigate-"

"I _know,_" he stressed out, hand going to his head, then continued in a lower tone. "I know all that."

Haibara gave the detective a long, unreadable look, before glancing back ahead. "Maybe we should phone Shinichi-san," she stated, gaining Conan's curious stare towards her. "And hope that he knows what to do. This…" Haibara frowned. "... is getting out of hand."

"Ah, I don't think he would answer," then he added, a tint of annoyance lacing his voice. "Said he would be busy for the next few days."

"Really? I just talked with him this morning."

His eyes grew wide at those words and fell in Haibara, who raised an eyebrow back at him, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable under his crazed look. His mouth opened to say something else.

"Hey," but then they heard someone calling from behind. "Conan-kun!"

Turning around, the two children were shocked to see a familiar, foreign woman, hurrying up to catch up with him. "Jodie-sensei," Conan called, genuinely surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"Your school is nearby, right?" she smiled at him. "I figured you'd pass by here."

Conan momentarily wondered why she wanted to see him, watching her rummagging through her bag, looking for something. Meanwhile, Haibara had walked away and joined the rest of the group, who were shooting questioning glances his way.

"Here you go."

The little boy blinked several times at the bright red phone before his eyes rose to meet Jodie's smile, as she handed the device he had lent her recently. It took him a second for him to give out an awkward nod and hastily gathered it back.

"You're done with it already?" Conan questioned.

"Yeah," Jodie nodded.

For a second more than needed, Jodie stood still in place, just gazing at him — but not _looking _at him for real — with her smile untouched. The kid stared back, tilting his head slightly, not failing to realize that her smile seemed to be a little tighter than usual.

"Well," finally, she turned around. "Thanks a lot, Conan-kun."

"Ah, Jodie-sensei?"

She stopped in her tracks, curiously looking at the boy who stood there, brow furrowing. "Are you..." he shifted uncomfortably, suddenly apprehensive after gathering her attention ─ as if he didn't know exactly why he was asking it. "... Are you alright?"

That seemed to surprise her. "Huh?" her smile dimmed at that. "Why do you ask that?"

He seemed troubled. "No reason," was his final answer.

After giving him a last puzzled look, she gave her a reassuring smile ─ which did not convince Conan ─ before finally walking away for good. Even then, the child did not tear his gaze away from her form, just stared, cluelessly.

His eyes fell on the phone in his hands and frowned. Unable to figure out what to make out of that situation, he sighed and pulled the sim card he was keeping in his pocket. _Maybe I'm just overthinking, _he concluded, putting it back into place, and paused.

_Maybe I'm just paranoid. _His fingers tapped on the phone, quickly, as he made his way through the '_settings' _menu. _But..._

Once he found what he had been looking for, the air in his lungs froze with a startled gasp. Alarmed, he checked it again to make sure he wasn't seeing things and realized, with a shudder, that he was right. Absolutely right.

_... The serial number is different._

That was a fact — for some reason, Jodie had given him another phone, different from the original one. But his head was still spinning with questions, such as what had happened, why she had done that... Or why she hadn't told him about it.

"Conan-kun!"

"What are you doing?"

"We're going to be late!"

The voices of his friends calling for him, and the feeling of Ai's sharp gaze piercing through the back of his neck prompted him to force his breathing to go back to normal. Eyes closing, he dropped his head until the point that the light hitting on the lenses hid his face from everyone else, Conan took a moment to recover himself.

Then, he spun around and, slapping a grin on his face, he nodded at his friends and jogged towards them.

"Coming, coming," then, joking lightly, he joined the group. "As if you are _this _excited to get to school."

"Well, school isn't exciting," Ayumi conceded. "But for all we know, there could be an exciting case for us, Detective Boys."

"Ayumi-chan, we haven't had a proper case since December." And even then, it had been _another _lost cat. "Makes you wonder why we still keep that note on Genta's locker..."

"It can't be helped," Genta huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "It's not like we get to hang out with the FBI, you know."

Conan inhaled sharply in anticipation.

"Then, what did you do?" Ayumi latched into his arm, a bright grin threatening to split her face in two. "Did you catch some criminal? Are you spying on someone?"

"... Well... I can't say anything, you know."

"We won't speak about it, I swear! Tell us, Conan-kun! Please?"

"Yeah," agreed Genta, with an annoyed tone that Conan didn't know if he could attribute it to the topic in hand or to how close his crush was to him. "It's not fair to keep all the fun stuff from us!"

"This isn't-"

"This isn't a game, Genta-kun!"

There was a collective halt in their steps. Blinking owlishly, Ayumi slowly let go of Conan as she joined the other two boys into staring at the other male who stood there without looking up, hands gripping his school bag, tightly. "Mitsuhiko?" tried Conan, hesitantly.

He didn't give out any reaction besides a slight frown. None of the other three children knew how they were supposed to proceed. Haibara, however, solely began to walk, passing by the group looking far from affected.

"We're going to be late for real," she stated, calmly. "We should get going."

With a dumbfounded nod, they made their way back to school. Mitsuhiko remained silent, slightly trailing behind. Conan, Ayumi and Genta exchanged worried glances, before the bespectacled one looked back ahead. And his eyes narrowed.

"Tsuburaya-kun has a good reason to be worried," Haibara told him once he had caught up with her. "The people you're messing with are dangerous. You can't let your guard down."

"Tell me something I don't know."

She shrugged at that and remained quiet the rest of the way. He did the same, only if he turned to give Mitsuhiko one last look over his shoulder.

* * *

Conan felt relief cursing through his veins the moment he heard Mitsuhiko laughing loudly, alongside Ayumi and Genta, over something they found funny in a random manga they had picked up. _He looks better. _He smiled at the sight, remembering that he had been acting oddly since that awkward conversation in the morning. _I guess there's nothing a quick trip to a library can't fix..._

_Now then... _he looked around. _Where is...?_

He stopped and blinked when something touched his cheek and realized it was Ai's index finger. Silently, the girl turned his head until he was facing the other side. "They're on those shelves over there." She didn't need to ask to know what he was looking for. "You're looking for mysteries, right?"

"Ah!" he rushed to the section in question. "Thanks!"

Once heading for the right direction, his eyes scanned through the several books arranged in front of his eyes, until they fell into a certain one that made his mouth stretch into a bright grin. _There it is! Shinmei Kaori's new mystery, 'Line-Up in the Dead of Night'. And there's only one left. _He stretched his hand to grab it. _Lucky!_

But he found himself grasping the thin air. Confused about it, he looked up and realized that someone had taken it first. "Oh," Hondou Eisuke seemed to be as surprised to see him there as he was. "Conan-kun."

"Ah," before Conan could even answer, Ran from behind. "It's Conan-kun!"

"And the rest of the brats..." pointed out Sonoko, who was with her. "Hanging around the bookstore reading manga on the way back from school, huh?"

Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko didn't take it so well ─ which was almost funny to Conan, because they _were._

"We were here because Conan-kun wanted to buy something," Ayumi defended herself.

Admittedly that was true, he _had _insisted on passing by here on their way back from school, but that didn't mean they didn't come along so they could read some manga for free.

"Didn't you girls come here to read manga, too?" Genta sounded irritated.

"I hate to disappoint you," Sonoko sneered and flipped her hair away. "We came to buy a reference book to help us prepare for exams."

"You know you have to _read _it for it to work, right?" Conan raised an eyebrow. "Besides, what exam are you talking about? It's not even May yet."

"She must have gotten a terrible grade in a test," Ayumi whispered to Mitsuhiko. "So she panicked and rushed here to buy the book."

"She's trying to apply a thin veneer of respectability," concluded Mitsuhiko.

Sonoko flinched away, shocked that they had gotten it right.

"They sure know some difficult words," giggled Ran.

"I wonder _who _they got it from..."

Conan didn't even notice Sonoko staring at him, just blinked at Eisuke. "More importantly, Eisuke-niichan," he began. "You came back to school?"

The teen nodded awkwardly, then Ran pointed out that he had been sick and that was why he had missed so many days of school. As Sonoko joked about him being '_sick over love', _and he, completely flustered, denied it loudly, Haibara moved closer.

"So this is the Hondou Eisuke I've heard so much about?" she whispered at Conan.

"Yeah," he nodded, eyes narrowing. "Since he found out about his sister, it looked like the FBI was going to hide him, but..."

"The fact that he's strolling around openly like this means he refused entry into the Witness Protection Program."

Not seeing the need of saying anything in return, the young boy studied Eisuke, watching as he flipped some pages of the book he had just grabbed. Then, closed it and gasped, upon noticing something on the back cover. "Now that I look more closely, this book is only the first volume!" he exclaimed, before sighing.

He then turned to look at him, causing Conan to jump slightly. He was surprised when he offered it to him. "I'll let you have this since both parts aren't together."

"Eh? But the second volume is scheduled to come out next month."

"I won't wait like that. It's because I hate being restricted by anything," he smiled. "Even by time."

Even if several minutes passed since the teen had said that, and that the child had hesitantly accepted the book, Conan stared. Silently, he stared at the boy, watching him joining Sonoko and Ran, who had successfully found the reference book they had been looking for.

His eyebrow rose.

_... Okay, but it's just a book, you know that, right?_

Not long after that, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko were waving at them as the group split on their way home. After bidding them goodbye, Conan looked back ahead, trailing slightly behind the group of high school students and walking beside Haibara, who frowned slightly once she was out of their friends' sight.

"Fifty meters behind us," she whispered to the boy. "In the shadows behind the vending machine in front of that convenience store... And he's been following us."

Taking a discreet glance towards that way, Conan frowned.

"Whoever that is, he's not an Organization member," Haibara pointed out. "They wouldn't be trailing us so conspicuously."

"In that case, he probably is..." he glanced at Eisuke, who chatted with the other two girls, unaware of the situation in hand. "... an FBI agent observing him."

"Or he could be a kidnapper waiting for the moment to corner us... and strike when we're unable to call for help."

"Hey, hey."'

"It's still a possibility."

"Yeah, but still," shrugging, he took his detective badge from his pocket. "It's not like we'll be unable to call for help, though," then, he put it back inside his shirt pocket. "They can call the police, at least."

She mildly shrugged at that, seeing the point in his words, before focusing on the conversation the teenagers were having. They were planning to celebrate Eisuke's recovery ─ which, in Conan's opinion, it was just an excuse to go out and have some fun.

"It's okay..." Eisuke tried to say. "We don't need to celebrate."

"What's that?!" Sonoko yelled at him. "You won't let me offer a cup of sake to you?!"

"You're minors," Conan stated blankly, causing the older girl to huff.

"I don't want to hear that from _you_, brat!"

"Still a minor."

"Well then," Ran pipped in before they could continue. "Why don't we go check out the new cake store in front of the station?"

He denied that offer, because he didn't like sweets. When Sonoko offered to go to a hamburger shop whose spicy chicken was quite famous, according to Ran, he declined as well because of his dislike of spicy things. Sonoko had grown impatient, and Conan couldn't help but understand her feelings at this point.

"In this case, there's only one place left! A place where everyone can have an exciting party time!"

By that alone, Conan figured he wouldn't have '_an exciting party time'_.

* * *

"Tears of yesterday, swaying summer breeze..." sipping an orange juice Ran had graciously bought him and listening to the two girls singing their hearts out, Conan realized he didn't like being right this time around. "Even if it's a short dream... Once you wake up, time passes on!"

Even Eisuke was having fun, shaking some maracas to the beat of the song.

"Remind me why I'm here again."

By the looks of it, he wasn't the only one having a hard time. He could only guess with her, however, as the little girl sitting beside her had the exact expressionless face she would always wear, as she sipped her own drink ─ also bought by Ran.

"I already told you, didn't I?" Conan sighed. "You're not leaving me alone with _those two._"

Those two being Sonoko and Eisuke, Haibara didn't really need him to explain it.

"Oh?" Her eyes went back to the magazine resting on her lap and flipped another page. "I'd have thought you would bond with Hondou-san after realizing you're actually two peas in a pod."

"... That my brother betrayed the Organization doesn't mean I'm like him," he puffed, somewhat annoyed at the implication.

"True, but I wouldn't say that's the only thing in common."

Conan blinked at that, before turning to look at the teen in question, just in time to witness the way he, somehow, hit himself with the maracas on the jaw. The little boy's expression dulled as he gave Haibara another look.

She smirked, without even looking up.

"Hey, my luck isn't _that _bad either..."

"Well, while you don't trip over stuff that often, you _do _trip over dead bodies daily."

It was then that Ran, with a friendly smile, turned to Eisuke and offered him the microphone in her hand. Flustered, he frantically shook his head, claiming that he was a _terrible _singer.

"I believe him," stated the girl, lowly enough for the other kid to hear. "Considering that a certain someone is also awful at it."

"... I'm not _awful. _Just... slightly off-tune most of the time," Conan crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I've improved a bit."

She raised an eyebrow. "You can't just lie to yourself, Conan-kun."

"I'm not."

"Wouldn't be so sure."

Haibara soon realized she shouldn't have said anything. Followed by her sentence, the boy had glowed at her and promptly stood up, earning quite a few hesitating looks from the teens, which only intensified at the sight of the boy snatching the microphone from Sonoko's hands.

Quietly, the girl covered her ears in advance.

* * *

"Kudo! You're back already-?"

"Idiot, don't be so loud! Do you really want Nakamori to hear?! She lives next door, in case you haven't noticed yet."

"Ah, sorry."

Despite the apology, the teen didn't seem very sorry to Shinichi — just left his shoes on the entryway before stepping inside. The detective shook his head, huffing irritably, and grabbed the newspaper that lied on the table he was sitting on.

"So, did you fix it?" asked the magician, plopping down onto the sofa and turning on the TV.

"Fix what?"

Kaito gave him a _look. _"You suddenly left for Beika after receiving a phone call. Took _my _bike and everything ─ which I haven't had the chance to use after it was repaired, mind you," he raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me that nothing happened, for real?"

Silence met his question, therefore proving him right. "Had to hide someone," he conceded with a sigh. "Faked their death. Successfully too, I'd say."

"Then why do you not seem pleased with it?" Shinichi did not answer, causing Kaito to gasp in shock. "You didn't have to hide your girlfriend, did you?!"

"For the eleventh time, no. I don't have a girlfriend... And no, I didn't have to fake Ran's death."

Actually, the detective shuddered at the thought — having to put Ran through such an ordeal was something he hoped he would _never _have to do. So, trying to get that idea out of his mind, he focused back on the newspaper and flipped the page over.

Only to close it again, violently, and sliding it to the furthest corner of that table.

"Hey, hey," Kaito blinked. "What has gotten into you?"

"An article about you. _Again._"

"Ah," the magician grinned, undoubtedly pleased. "That must be about tonight's heist."

"If you have a heist, why are you lazing around instead of preparing?"

"Relax, Meitantei. I still have plenty of time, besides..." his smile dropped with a sigh. "With Inspector Nakamori sick at home and Hakuba aboard, this will be _so _easy... And painfully boring."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "I would have never imagined you would actually miss _Hakuba_."

"Don't joke like that," Kaito scowled. "As much as it pains me to admit, with him around heists become slightly less boring..." he crossed his arms behind his head, staring up to the ceiling. Some memory must have crossed his mind, since he chuckled for no rhyme or reason. "... Well, if Tantei-kun _was _there, everything would be dramatically different."

The detective hummed, barely paying attention to that. "And why wouldn't that kid be there?" he asked, as he plucked out his phone and started to mess around with it.

"I told you already. Tantei-kun doesn't live in Ekoda," Kaito glared a bit. "Do you ever listen when I'm talking?"

"I do," Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Probably more than I should_._"

* * *

"... Where are you going then? Walk on, you're already on your way, aren't you?" by the end of the song, Ran and Sonoko's faces were falling already, and Haibara firmly believed her own ears were just a note away from bleeding. "Even if it's just a short dream... Once you wake up, time passes on~!"

For a moment, none of the girls said anything, just staring blankly at the young boy in front of him. Then Ran seemed to snap out of it. "Conan-kun, that was great," she clapped, her smile looking extremely strained and forced.

_Genetics are a scary thing, _grimaced Sonoko.

"Don't lie," stated Haibara, with a plain voice. "It shows."

Conan looked as if he was about to retort something back, when he noticed something. "Where'd Eisuke-niichan go?"

Just as Ran was telling him that the boy had gone to the bathroom, the door opened. Instead of Eisuke, however, was a man who had gotten there by mistake. On his way out, he bumped into another man and left.

Nothing happened for a long time, until Eisuke returned, a horrified expression plastered all over his face. By that time, their time was up and they had to leave.

Of course, as Conan's luck would have it, he wouldn't be able to leave without a murder taking place. As soon as they got a foot out of the room, a scream filled the air, causing the young boy to run towards the sound. There, a worker was staring inside a room, terrified.

A man lied on the floor, all over a pool of his own blood. "What are you waiting for?" snapped the kid at the shocked worker. "Call an ambulance and the police. Hurry!"

While the employee scrambled to get to the phone, Conan got a closer look to the body. _A blunt object on the head, _he observed, hand reaching to touch it.

"Dead," spoke a female voice at his side, having already done that. "For around thirty minutes."

Nodding at his friend, the boy stood up and strolled out the room. From the register, the murder place was a blind spot, he observed. And beyond the turn, there was the men's restroom and a cigarette vending machine.

_Wait a second... Restroom?_

His eyes fell on Eisuke, widening upon connecting with him. He took a step back, in direction of the body to check his suspicions. "The victim..." Haibara stated, joining him. "... is the man who was following us."

Conan frowned at that, crossing his arms, deep in thought. "Could it be...?" he muttered, unable to believe it. "He did say he hated being restricted by anything..."

"That guy?" Haibara glanced at the teen in question and raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't look like the kind that would do something like that."

"Believe or not, he tried to stab Mizunashi Rena with a pair of scissors when he thought she was in a coma."

"You know that is a completely different situation, right?"

Conan gave Eisuke a thoughtful look, immediately recalling the horrified expression a few moments ago, and frowned. "Right," he conceded, though not entirely convinced.

* * *

"Are you stupid or something?" That was Conan's reaction when Eisuke confessed what had shaken him so badly.

Eisuke flinched at the accusation, blinking a bit at the child that was looking at him with a pain expression on his face.

"You did all this drama..." his eyebrow rose. "... just because you saw two men kissing?"

"W-Well-!"

"That's rude!" before Eisuke could even say anything in his defense, the person in question walked up to the doorway and, angrily, exclaimed. "I'm a woman!"

While every adult in sight winced and apologized profusely, Conan merely blinked at the woman, not looking affected in the slightless. _Oh. _His eyebrow rose, as he glanced at Eisuke sideways. _Still an idiot._

Eisuke, in turn, sighed, feeling exhausted suddenly.

"But thank goodness," said Ran to him, a kind smile on her face. "You were looking so strange. You had me worried," at the sight of her watering eyes, Eisuke could only stutter. "It's really good."

It didn't take long for his face to warm up, and for Sonoko to smirk, pleased at the scene in sight. _Don't act like you're cleared of suspicion, _thought Conan, scowled at him, annoyed at the scene developing in front of his eyes.

"Oh? What's this?" it didn't help that the young girl was already commenting on it. "Your ship is sinking, by the looks of it."

"What in the world are you talking about?" he grumbled, turning to look at him.

And paused, blinking in confusion. Noticing this, the scientist gave him a questioning look, to which he didn't instantly react. "Do I have something on my face?" feeling impatient, she shot at him.

"You were smiling," he stated, partly puzzled and partly confused. "Why?"

"Am I not allowed?" she crossed her arms. "It's nice to see a nice romance developing in front of one's eyes once in a while."

"You looked a bit _too _happy..."

"Don't you have anything else to investigate such us, I don't know, the murder that just happened an hour ago?"

Rolling his eyes, Conan but ultimately complied. "Let me know if you see something, Ai-" he paused, giving her a long, indecipherable look, which she mirrored. "... Haibara."

He didn't get to see her reaction to that, just moved closer to Sonoko and gathered her attention. Upon seeing him there, the girl crouched next to him. "So?" she whispered at the young boy. "Did you find something, brat?"

"I was going to ask _you _that," Conan frowned, not even fazed at the way she referred to him any longer. "Ï thought _you _were the detective."

She seemed to be slightly irritated at her attitude, but didn't comment on it. "You're my assistant, remember?" with a frown, she poked his chest, a bit too roughly. "Don't you dare to leave me on my own, okay?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped before he could say anything. That was because she wasn't looking at him any longer, but to Eisuke, with a slightly worried glint in her eyes. _He's her friend, _he realized with a frown. _That's why._

"He's innocent," the certainty in his youthful voice surprised her. "And we _are _going to prove it," he gave her a small, but reassuring smile. "Don't ever doubt it, Sonoko-neechan."

After a moment of appreciation, Sonoko nodded and, for the first time, offered the child a genuine, malice-lacking smile.

* * *

"That turned into a lousy celebration for your return, didn't it?" Ran sighed, on their way back home after a tiring case.

"Still, I was impressed," Eisuke smiled at Sonoko. "By Sonoko-san's deduction show."

"Ah, well..."

Conan averted her gaze and continued in walking, pretending not to be paying attention at the conversation behind him, hands slipping inside his pockets as they continued talking.

"Who would've thought," Haibara commented at some point. "That it was _actually _a kidnapper."

"Yeah," he nodded quietly, still a bit disturbed. "We're lucky that Sonoko-neechan went to that karaoke. Had we ended up separating ways and had she been left on her own..."

"There's no telling what could have happened. You don't have to keep pondering about that."

Conan said nothing, just glanced over his shoulder, realizing that Eisuke was intently staring at him. He looked away as soon as he noticed he had been caught, though.

"Your great deductions put even Shinichi to shame," continued Ran, to which Sonoko could only laugh, nervously.

"Shinichi?" Eisuke questioned. "You mean that high school detective, Kudo Shinichi?"

"Yeah!" Sonoko giggled. "He's Ran's long distance husband!"

"Sonoko!"

"You got married as high school students?!"

"Of course I haven't! Not with a guy like him!"

Rolling his eyes, Conan sighed, finally tearing his gaze away from him and settling into the little girl who stood there, silently listening to the whole fuss happening with the older students. Unlike the other time, Conan noted that her lips weren't twitching upwards, amused at the scene, just… _stared_.

_Are all girls this weird? _He gave her an odd look. _Or is it only this one?_

He sighed. There was no way he would figure it out.

"I guess I should get going," stated Conan, causing Haibara to blink, confusedly. "I want to have a word with that guy over there, alone, so..."

"I see," she said, shrugging, internally wondering how he was going to get Ran off his back. "See you later, I guess."

"See you tomorrow... Uh... _Haibara._"

At that hesitant sentence, and the troubled, nervous look the boy was giving her, the girl could do nothing but to stare. Conan flinched right away, feeling her gaze piercing right through him, before she closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Dork."

Honestly, he felt quite irritated at that. "Eh?" and perplexed.

"It's just a name, Conan-kun. You don't have to make a big deal about it."

"Huh?"

"I'm giving you permission, if that's what you want."

Right now, Conan believed he might be looking pretty stupid as he stared at her, wide eyes fixed on her and mouth slightly open in shock, unable to actually produce a sound. It didn't help that Haibara, upon seeing his reaction, immediately looked away ─ if he didn't know any better, he would have said that she appeared to be embarrassed.

"What's this?" Instantly after hearing Sonoko's voice, Conan felt his own face growing warmer. "Aren't you two a bit too young?"

He spun around and was _not _happy upon the realization that the three were looking at him with different expressions painting their faces. Sonoko's eyebrow had risen, a mischievous smile crossing her face, Ran was grinning brightly, and so widely that Conan thought her face would split in half. And Eisuke looked absolutely confused, staring at the two kids and wondering if he had missed something.

"Isn't it okay?" Ran answered her friend with a giggle. "They are adorable."

"Well, I guess it's okay," conceded Sonoko. "It's just that it reminds me of another, certain pair that looked like that when they were at this brat's age... It ended in marriage."

"I'm not married, Sonoko!"

"Oh? Who said I was talking about you?"

Genuinely relieved that the attention was off him again, Conan sighed and, hesitantly, turned to Haibara, who was looking everywhere but his general direction. "Well, uh..." he whispered at her, before he smiled, softly. "See you tomorrow, Ai-san."

Her lips tugged upwards. "See you tomorrow, Conan-kun."

With that, he focused back on Ran, who was still arguing with Sonoko, flustered. "Ah, Ran-neechan," he gathered her attention. "There's a book I want to buy, so you head home before me."

He began to jog before she could say something. "It's fine," Eisuke said. "I'll go with him and make sure he gets back to the detective agency."

Ran nodded dumbly, watching him hurrying to catch up with Conan. Before long, she sighed and shook it off. "Well then," she gave the little girl a kind smile. "Should we go, Ai-chan?"

The silent little girl nodded and compiled.

* * *

"So I take it you rejected it." Upon seeing that the light had turned green, Conan stepped into the crosswalk. "The Witness Protection Program."

"No, I turned that down," answered Eisuke, truthfully. "Just like I said before, I hate being restricted by anything."

The child gave him a long look, humming as he did so. "It's cool." He crossed his arms behind his head. "As long as you don't use your freedom to run after your sister… Or try to murder someone with a pair of scissors." When Conan's blank gaze fell on him, the teen flinched. "I didn't take you as the kind of person who would do _that._"

"I'm not!"

"Sure. Just make sure you don't get yourself a criminal record in a few years."

"I won't," a gleeful grin took over his face, momentarily forgetting all about what they had been talking about earlier. "Because, just like my father and sister, I want to join the CIA!"

Conan blinked, not quite having expected that kind of outcome. "The CIA?"

Enthusiastically, the teen nodded. "I'll dig up and expose bad people and their evil deeds out of every nook and cranny," his eyes were almost sparking as he said those words. "And someday, my sister and I will bring down that evil Organization!"

Just as he said that, the older boy suddenly tripped on the sidewalk, inadvertently bumping into the young child that had been walking right in front of him, ignoring the dangers that simple action could have.

Shrieking because of the surprise, Conan felt gravity doing his job. Eisuke was quick and grabbed onto his shoulders, stabilizing him and saving him from a painful fate against the floor. As a result of all that, however, a clattering sound could be heard, causing both boys to look up to see that Conan's detective badge had fallen off his pocket and onto the hard pavement.

"... I seriously hope that taking them down doesn't take _that _long." The child gave him a very accusing glance.

Eisuke laughed, ashamed, as he watched the kid bending down to pick his badge up. "Honestly," he sighed, a tad annoyed, while placing the gadget back into its place. Shaking his head, he stood back up. "You're deliberately coming with me and you looked as if you wanted to discuss something rather urgently, too."

"I've decided to go to America," he answered. "This might be the last time we saw each other, so I wanted to talk to you one last time."

"With me?"

"Yeah, I wanted to thank you." Eisuke turned to look up to the sky. "If I didn't get the chance to talk with you at that moment, I don't really know what I would have done. I would probably have gone crazy." He glanced back at the surprised kid, smiling brightly. "You gave me the hope I needed to keep going forward, Conan-kun."

Conan looked like he didn't know how to reply properly to that, prompting Eisuke to chuckle, amused when the kid averted his gaze, quite embarrassed at the compliment.

"But if you're leaving," he changed the subject. "Why would you come back to school?"

"Even if it was just for a short time, I wanted to see my close friends before I went, and..."

"And?"

Eisuke smiled again, blushing slightly.

"... And confess my love to Ran-san."

Conan stared in return.

"I fell in love with her from the first time I met her..." he continued, grinning so widely that the kid thought his face would split in half. "I'd never met someone as pretty and kind as her..." Suddenly, though, the teen paused, placing his finger under his chin and looking troubled about something. "But it seems that she's in love with Shinichi-san… I don't know what Shinichi-san thinks about her..."

As his eyebrow rose far above his hairline, the young boy opened his mouth to plainly tell him he shouldn't even bother trying, and that this 'Shinichi' guy had practically fallen head over hills for her, even if he would never admit it.

But he stopped himself before he could say a word. The guy seemed to be genuinely in love with Ran, and he could see that he meant well. _Besides, _he looked back at the ground with a sigh. _This is something I can keep getting involved in._

Last time he had directly interfered in their love life, he had acted upon a childish impulse and basically tricked Shinichi into coming so he could get some Valentine's chocolate. And now he could see how dangerous that had been, and how badly it could have ended.

… That without considering he had almost given his brother _another _heart attack.

"Oh, right," Eisuke leaned closer to him. "Do you know how to contact Shinichi-san?"

Conan shifted, uncomfortably, at that. "What for?"

"I want you to ask him for me… If it would be alright to confess my love for Ran-san."

Conan went strangely quiet at that, fingers grasping the phone he had inside his pocket without really thinking about it, and tightening his grip around it, barely listening as Eisuke rambled about his plans to take Ran to America with him, so as to not keep her waiting.

"_Go back to sleep, Conan," _he still remembered those kind words, that he used to believe they belonged to a dream. Yet, it hadn't been a dream. He _had _been there and lied about it.

He had wanted to listen to him, to give him the opportunity to explain himself — even though he knew, deep down, that he would just fabricate another excuse ─ yet Shinichi had backed off, saying he was busy. _He isn't. _Conan fingers curled, tightly, around the device. _He talked with Ai-san this morning._

… _That coward..._

He wasn't so certain he wanted to listen any longer.

"I won't do it." Finally the boy conceded him an answer, determined _not _to phone him. "Why are you asking _him, _anyway? You should ask Ran-neechan's opinion instead."

Eisuke stared at the kid, so intensely that caused him to take a step back, silently wondering if he had said something he shouldn't. "This is weird..." the teen muttered. "You're not taking it as I thought you would..."

Conan blinked in return, causing the teen to laugh.

"You're an excellent actor," he then continued. "I should've expected it from Fujimine Yukiko's son."

At the mention of his mother's name, Conan felt all blood draining from his face, leaving a white, terrified facade in place, which he tried to maintain with a weak smile. "What…?" he tried, even if he was panicking from the inside. "What are you talking about?"

Eisuke smiled, standing back up. "You know, the reason I visited Detective Mouri was because I heard he'd met with Mizunashi Rena just before he disappeared. I thought for sure he was shielding her," he confessed. "And as I was looking into him, I figured something out. Whenever there was a case, you would be at his side. And then, it would be solved."

Conan genuinely didn't understand how he got into the conclusion, so he just waited, with a bated breath, for him to reveal it.

Then, Eisuke crouched down in front of him and said:

"Though I couldn't think how you could have gotten smaller… As I thought, you really are Kudo Shinichi, aren't you?"

Taken aback, the kid stared blankly. For an entire minute, he didn't react at all, and Eisuke genuinely thought he had hit the nail in the head.

But Conan continued staring.

Until he deflated with something that was between a sigh and a groan. Eisuke blinked as the boy passed a hand through his face, as if suddenly exhausted.

And stared again, like he could not believe what he was seeing.

"This isn't funny anymore..."

"Eh?"

"Eisuke-niichan, have you heard yourself?" he breathed out. "High schoolers shrinking into grade students… How? A shrinking drug? A curse? _Alice in Wonderland's freaking shrinking potion?!_"

The way the child's voice exponentially grew louder made Eisuke desire _he _could shrink back instead ─ though he secretly wondered why this kid was getting _this _mad.

"So you're not?"

"What do you think?"

"... Sorry."

Conan looked as if he wanted to argue, but settled with an annoyed grumble while crossing his arms in front of his chest. _Seriously, _he huffed, giving him another look. _What's wrong with these people?_

"Then, _who _are you?" Eisuke studied him from a moment.

"Edogawa Conan," he replied almost immediately.

His eyes narrowed behind his round glasses. "Ah!" he exclaimed, completely shocked. "You are... "

"Conan."

"Yeah, _Kudo _Conan, aren't you?" Frankly speaking, Conan didn't know if he was supposed to be disturbed that he knew, or disturbed that he didn't get it right at the first try. "The kid that died in that freaky accident..."

The fact that Eisuke had figured it out didn't bother him at this point.

Sighing, Conan pinched the bridge of his nose. "How come you didn't think of that _before _that shrinking nonsense?"

"Well, you're different from other children." Conan _did _take an offense on that. "Besides, your death was pretty realistic. It didn't cross my mind that it could've been faked."

"Ah," he rolled his eyes. "Is that so?"

"I thought it could've been staged by someone, though," Eisuke shrugged with a nervous smile. "That after shrinking, Shinichi-san had decided to take his deceased brother's name and take revenge… Or something."

The kid tried his best not to cringe at that highly disturbing scenario of his own death. Noticing that, Eisuke laughed a bit, nervousness long gone, and gave him a genuine smile as he reminisced.

"But now it makes sense..." Conan gave him an inquisitive look. "The reason you looked as if you understood what we, my sister and I, were going through wasn't because you weren't in Nee-san's place… But mine."

Finally getting what the older boy meant, the curiosity dimmed and a thoughtful glint took over his gaze, before the dim street lights reflecting on his glasses obscured it. Quietly, he began to walk once more.

"You love your brother very much, don't you?"

Conan did not answer, just passed by him without uttering a single word. Despite this, Eisuke didn't feel bothered at all. That was because he saw it ─ the child's soft, yet sincere smile drawing on his face.

_Yeah, a lot._

* * *

"Thank you for walking me home, Ran."

Haibara said nothing, while Sonoko profusely thanked her friend for being so nice to actually walk home with her, and Ran nervously shook her head, her tight smile in place as she tried to deal with her.

The Suzuki heiress was being a bit too grateful for Haibara. Granted, she might have been spooked after realizing that she could have gotten kidnapped today, so Haibara couldn't really blame her for that, but still…

A beeping sound made its way through her ears, prompting her to look away from the girls to her bag. _The Detective Badge, _she realized with a frown, hurrying to pull the gadget out. _He couldn't have gotten himself in trouble, could he?_

"... I seriously hope that taking them down doesn't take _that _long."

Before she could even get a word out, the sound of Conan's voice caused the little scientist to jump, surprised.

"Hones-"

She immediately turned it off. _That idiot, _she mentally sighed. _Must have turned it on by accident._

After a brief pause, she brought her phone from her pocket. _I probably need to warn him, _she realized, as she scrolled through her contacts. _Those nosy ones are probably listening, too._

"Ai-chan?" by the time Ran had turned back around, Haibara had already hidden the badge. "This is weird… I could've sworn I heard Conan-kun's voice."

"You just did," unblinking, the scientist put her phone back. "It was from our chat group. Conan-kun said something embarrassing once, and Tsuburaya-kun happened to be recording it. Kojima-kun keeps sending it back to us every chance he gets to annoy him."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yes."

With that, silence took over as they began walking once more ─ without Sonoko there, the quietness was more deafening and clear. But Haibara paid no mind, just calmly continued her way, ignoring the feeling of Ran's sharp gaze on her.

"Say, Ai-chan."

"What is it?"

"Well," she said with a hesitant smile, as if she had no idea of what she was doing. "If there's something bothering you, you can always talk to me, you know?"

"I'm aware. Thank you."

"Then, is there…?"

"Nothing I can think of, but I appreciate the concern."

"... Oh. It's okay then."

They didn't exchange another word throughout their trip to Professor Agasa's house.

* * *

"Oh, that's right," Eisuke said, at some point on their walk. "Did you hear? Something seems to have happened with the FBI."

Conan's eyes flickered to his direction. "Something happened?" he blinked, curiously wondering what it could be about.

"Yeah… Based on their mood, it seems like someone might have died..."

It only took one look towards Conan's direction for his words to trail down into silence. The boy had stopped, frozen in his spot, and had not moved even if Eisuke had turned around and, hesitantly, inched closer, infinitely concerned and confused all the same.

Because the little detective was beyond pale – his skin had gained a ghostly white color. His breathing seemed to have stopped, and he just stared back at him, horrified.

"Ah!" so, Eisuke hurried to say something. "If they haven't told you about it, I'm sure it's alright!"

Conan didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

Little did he imagine he wasn't the only one shocked beyond words. Several miles away from his location, three children had gasped upon hearing that sentence, each clutching the little badge as they sat in the darkness of their rooms.

And one of them frowned, unable to keep his gaze away from the device resting against trembling hands.

* * *

A/N:

CherryGirl 21-6: Yeah, that's basically it. The new phone he got later on was the smartphone he now uses in the anime. I was going to specify it in that chapter, but I guess I forgot XD


	71. An Unexpected Visitor

**File Seventy-One: An Unexpected Visitor **

"_Based on their mood, it seems like someone might have died..."_

Mitsuhiko burrowed himself further inside the blankets of his bed, trying to force himself to sleep. He had actually been trying to do this for several hours now, but to no avail. It seemed as if there was no end to that vicious circle of closing his eyes, calming himself down just for those words to ring in his mind, causing him to jump awake again and prompting his anxiety to spike up. Like that, it happened for hours and hours.

It was late, the numbers on the bright screen told him so. _There's nothing to worry about. _He squinted at the phone in his hand ─ his eyes were unused to the light. _We're talking about Conan-kun here. He must have everything figured out by now…_

_Yes, because it's Conan-kun…_

"_If you don't want a hole in this kid's head… you will hand the Jewel of Destiny over."_

… _Right?_

He wasn't so sure anymore.

"Mitsuhiko-kun?" Before he even fully registered what he was doing, her concerned voice rang through his ear. "What's wrong?"

His free hand curled around the sheets, tightly enough to make his knuckles grow white. "R-Ran-san," he tried to sound as calm as possible, but he was certain his voice cracked at that. "I'm very sorry, I know it's late, but… Can… Can we talk?"

Her breath hitched at that sentence with surprise, but ultimately kept silent, patiently waiting for the boy to speak.

_I'm sorry, Conan-kun. _He closed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. _I'm really, really sorry for this!_

* * *

The sound of the alarm was stopped not even a second after it had gone off. While setting the phone back on the floor, the young kid in the futon groaned tiredly, glaring at the device as if it was the sole cause of his troubles. Eventually, though, he sat up and silently made his way to the bathroom.

_This will be a long day, _the boy lamented in his head as he lethargically brushed his teeth, and made a face at the mental picture of Ayumi and the rest's loud excitement that he would surely meet upon arriving at school. It would be especially hard today. _Considering I didn't sleep a wink last night..._

It was clear at first sight ─ Conan grimaced at the sight of his own reflexion in the mirror. Yet, that was the most logical outcome from lying in bed all night long, wide awake and staring at the ceiling, recalling repeatedly those words Eisuke had pronounced.

Someone in the FBI had died.

And if it was the person he had been thinking about, it would make perfect sense. That would explain why his phone's serial number was different. _Jodie-sensei saw Akai-san grabbing my phone. _He frowned, hopping off the stool Ran had put for him a long time ago. _Were they trying to identify his… body?_

If they had to result in fingerprints to identify him, Conan dreaded to know what exactly had happened to him.

"Ah, Conan-kun," Ran's surprised tone met his ears the moment he stepped out of the bathroom. "Good morning."

She had just walked out of her room, the boy noticed. "Good morning, Ran-neechan."

"You're up early," she observed.

It was true. Usually it would've taken him longer to wake himself up enough to get up, but this time around he _was _already awake. He decided not to say anything about this, however, and merely shrugged, then stepped aside so she could get in the bathroom before her father awakened. Yet she frowned instead.

"Now that I look at you, you're a little pale." Kneeling in front of him, the girl immediately felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "Doesn't look like you're sick…"

"I'm just tired, that's all."

"You didn't sleep well."

Conan paused, very aware of the fact that she hadn't _asked _it. Opening his mouth, he debated with himself about what he should say next, but nothing came out of his mouth. A sigh was all the reply she got from the older girl who, after passing a hand through his hair affectionately, she went back into her feet. "After you change, sit for a bit, Conan-kun," she told him, a smile on her face. "I'll fix you something for breakfast."

"Ah, no need. I can do it myself."

"It's okay, I'll take care of it."

With that, Ran shuffled inside the bathroom and Conan stood there for a moment more than needed. Just now, the kid could have sworn that something was off with her ─ the way she smiled, how she acted, it was different. As if she was doing her absolute best to act normal in front of him…

He seriously didn't like where this was going.

That didn't mean he could do something about it so, giving the door a last frown, the kid went to change out of his pajamas. Once he did, he went to sit at the table as he had been told, not daring to disobey her, and stared at the phone in his hand. _I could call Jodie-sensei and ask about Akai-san…_

But he decided not to. _If she was intending to let me know, he wouldn't have tried to give me an identical phone. _What was there to say that she would be honest with him if he asked directly? Jodie had clearly been trying to hide the fact from him.

The sound of the door of Kogoro's bedroom prompted him to look up. "Occhan." He blinked, stunned to see the man there. "You're awake?"

If Conan usually had a slow awakening, then the man in front of him was even worse. Any other day, it would have taken Ran to shout at him that breakfast was ready, several times, before he could be roused.

"Don't need to look surprised, brat," Kogoro grunted, all but collapsing in the seat across Conan. "There's nothing wrong with getting up early once in a while."

"… Right," drawled Conan, highly unconvinced. "Though a responsible adult wouldn't need his daughter to wake him up on a daily basis."

"What is that brat? You're saying I'm not a responsible adult?"

"Exactly."

Kogoro said nothing in return, just grumbled something under his breath as he looked away, offended. Conan couldn't care less, really ─ he shrugged at his reaction, absently watching Ran getting out of the restroom and going to her bedroom to change. Leaning his head against an open palm, Conan sighed, waiting for Kogoro to stand up and go brush his teeth or something.

He didn't.

And Conan had no idea why.

"You know, even if you seem to forget it from time to time..." The serious frown that appeared in Kogoro's face confused Conan. "I _am _an adult." The severe gaze cast on him made the boy uncomfortable. "And you're a child."

"Yeah." He nodded slowly. "That's obvious."

… _Not for everyone, apparently._

"And children shouldn't keep shouldering so much by themselves," Conan flinched at his words. "That's what adults are for, right?"

"I… I don't understand where all this is coming from."

A deafening quietness followed the statement and, while Conan was definitely a fan of silence, he didn't seem to enjoy it this time around. He still fought to keep his face straight, and the panic cursing through his veins to show.

"It's not the first time you come home looking distraught and go straight to bed without having dinner." Kogoro's stern expression didn't waver. "And just like the other time, you're not planning to say anything."

"I'm pretty sure I told you. I was tired." He met his gaze with a defiant one of his own. "Try hanging out with Genta and the others, _then _running into a murder case. That's beyond exhausting-"

"What book did you buy?"

"Eh?"

"Ran said you went out your way to buy a book." Conan cursed in his mind. "Even if you got Shinmei Kaori's new mystery that morning. Buying _two _books in a single day, several hours apart, is kind of pushing it, even for you, isn't it?"

The kid was _not _used to this. Mouri Kogoro, the man who couldn't solve a case to save his life, was pressuring him, cornering him against the wall. He struggled to get through his panic-addled mind and get a decent answer for his questions, but he couldn't. Probably it was taking him too much time since Kogoro's gaze hardened further, if possible.

"Conan," the severe tone in his voice told the boy he wouldn't like it. "Is someone named Gin giving you trouble?"

Indeed, he did _not _like it.

"Never heard that name."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Look, I seriously have no idea what's all this about." The child stood up, suddenly. "But I need to leave for school right now."

Obviously, the man looked far from convinced. "You're almost an hour early."

"I agreed to meet with Mitsuhiko to talk about our art project."

"You haven't even eaten anything."

"I'm not hungry."

Mouri abruptly stood up, prompting Conan to freeze in the doorway, his school bag already in hand. Despite the fierceness in his gaze, Conan held it with a tight frown on his face. "You're not going anywhere," said Kogoro, with a stern tone he had _never _heard him using before, and pointed to the seat where Conan had previously been sitting at. "Come here, _now_."

Conan did not move from his spot.

"It's alright, Dad."

The female voice caused the two males to look away from each other and back to Ran, who smiled calmly at them both ─ her smile didn't settle right with the child, though. "He said he needs to go to school, right?" she stated, making her way to the kitchen. "You can go ahead, Conan-kun. I want to talk with Dad for a bit before I leave."

Dumbly, the boy nodded, inching closer to the door. A bamboozled expression took over Kogoro's face, spinning around to look at her, only to pause before he could say anything. They both exchanged looks, coming into an unspoken agreement, before the man turned back to the child.

"Just remember this, brat," Kogoro's frown was back in place when their eyes connected. "You can't run away forever."

Conan didn't answer, just hurriedly disappeared through the door.

* * *

"Ah, so here you were!"

Jumping slightly at the voice, Conan looked up from his book just to see his four friends making their way to his desk. He smiled a bit, raising his hand in a greeting gesture.

"We have been waiting for you to walk to school all this time," grumbled Genta. "And now it turns out you were already here?!"

"Sorry." He shrugged, closing his book and placing it back on his bag. "I wanted to finish that book so I got here earlier than usual."

Ai's eyes narrowed. "Weren't you just reading _The Sign of Four?_" Hesitantly, Conan nodded. "Which you have read over a dozen times."

"I… wanted to read it again."

She raised her eyebrow, but otherwise let it go. Mostly because Ayumi had walked closer and, with a concerned look.

"Say, Conan-kun," she asked, a frown decorating her face. "Do you feel good?"

"I didn't sleep until late last night," he settled with that answer, since experience told him he couldn't really lie to her. "I had many things in my mind, and-"

"Oh," Genta pipped in. "Was it about that FBI agent that died?"

At that question, Conan felt as if time itself had gone completely still. Slowly his gaze moved to meet the boy's, who seemed to have frozen as well after realizing what he had just said. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko turned to look at him, equally horrified expressions plastered all over their faces.

"You turned your Detective Badge on by accident," Ai was the first one to break the silence with her monotone voice, calmly making her way to her seat next to him. "They overheard your conversation with Hondou Eisuke last night."

"Eh?!" He stood up suddenly. "You guys did?!"

The way Ayumi and Genta smiled, sheepishly told him everything he needed to know.

"I tried to warn you," shrugged Ai. "But I couldn't call you with Ran-san around. I trusted they would have, at least, some sense of decency and _not _listen to it, but..."

At the thought of the older girl, Conan groaned, slumping back into his desk again. "Yeah, that would be more troublesome." He massaged his head. "I don't need her being even _more _suspicious than she already is..." then, with a frown, he added. "Occhan and Ran-neechan already know something is going on… Even this morning, Occhan asked me if I knew someone named Gin..."

Ai's eyes opened wide. "That's… actually not good."

"... Say." They both glanced at Mitsuhiko's direction. "... If they actually _knew _about it… would it be _that _bad?"

"Why do you ask?" asked the girl.

All the while that Ai questioned it, Conan observed the way his friend took a step back, seemingly unsure about something before lowering his head. He mumbled some excuse, timidly, that Conan did not listen at, far too focused in the way he shifted, with a downcast look in his eyes.

Conan frowned in confusion, giving him another careful look.

"_You can go ahead, Conan-kun. I want to talk with Dad for a bit before I leave."_

There was a loud gasp, causing the other four kids to stop discussing amongst each other in order to look at their other friend. Conan was staring right at Mitsuhiko, eyes open so wide that it gave him an almost crazed kind of look. Then, his mouth closed slowly and his bewildered gaze turned into a furious glare and hissed three words:

"You told her."

"What…" tried Mitsuhiko, with a violent twitch. "What are you talking about, Conan-kun-?"

"You told Ran-neechan." The unusual rise of his voice startled Ayumi, who was the closest to him, out of them all. "You told her everything, didn't you?"

He got no other reply but an indecisive nod.

"Why would you do that?!" continued Conan, not paying attention to the staring from other classmates settled on them. "I can't believe you-!"

"What was I supposed to do?!"

Everyone, including the other children in the classroom that were overhearing their conversation, were stunned to see Mitsuhiko ─ quiet, polite _Mitsuhiko _─ speaking up like that to a friend. Not that Conan particularly cared about it, just continued glowering at the boy.

Once she recovered from her shock Ai, predicting _where _this conversation was going, gave a general _glare _to everyone outside of their group. They all flinched, then shuffled back to their own business. Satisfied with that, she focused her attention back to Mitsuhiko, whose hands were curling into fists now.

"Do you…" Conan breathed out. "Do you have the slightest idea of how dangerous these people are?"

"Yes, I do," he said, with astonishingly assertiveness.

"Then why?!"

"Because they _are _dangerous."

Conan paused, confused. To that, Mitsuhiko sighed before continuing in a softer, nevertheless firm, tone.

"Clearly this is something far too big for _children _like us to handle," he stressed out. "Telling an adult is the first thing you should have done!"

"Are you telling me I should just let them investigate them?" Conan growled. "They're going to wind up dead!"

"_You _are going to wind up dead!" Then, he closed his eyes, tightly. "Especially if you keep running head-first into danger-!"

"I don't-!"

"Conan-kun, last time you tried to go after one of them ended up with a gun on your head and got thrown off a _moving airplane_!"

Words momentarily left the bespectacled boy, dying in his throat with a violent shiver. He closed his eyes, struggling not to let his friends see he was sweating at the feeling of a familiar coldness against his temple that was definitely _not _there.

His eyes snapped open when fingers latched on his hand. "Don't be mad at Mitsuhiko-kun!" Ayumi had a tiny frown on her face. "He's just trying to help." Her grip on him tightened. "Because… because you're hurting, Conan-kun."

… _Hurting?_

"Besides, we know about it, right?" the girl beamed. "So why would it be a problem if Ran-neesan knows too?"

He looked away at that. "That…" Ayumi's smile faltered. "… That was my mistake…"

"… Eh?" Her grip on him slacked.

"I shouldn't have told you anything." He stared at her straight in the eye. "If I knew this would turn out like _this, _I wouldn't have..."

The hurt in Ayumi's eyes made Conan look away guiltily, but did not take his words looked up, however, when a pull from the collar of his shirt forced him back onto his feet.

"What are you talking about?!" His expression did not waver, even at the sight of Genta's furious glare from very close, as he held tightly into his shirt. "You're saying that it would be better if we never founded our group?! Our detective club?!"

"If it keeps all of you away from this, then _yes._"

At the answer the boy offered him without giving it a second thought, Genta gritted his teeth. "We are trying to _help _you, Conan!" He shouted at him. "That doesn't give you any right to act like a jerk!"

"A jerk, you say?"

"Yeah, a big jerk! To say that you would throw away _everything _we did together, just like that!"

The other boy did not reply for a moment, but held his glare with a fierce one of his own.

"I might be a jerk..." he started, slower, before raising the volume of his voice. "But at least I don't go getting my nose where it doesn't belong all the time!"

"We're trying to help!"

"Well, I didn't ask for it!"

"What are you saying?!"

"If this is the way you're going to help, it will be better if you just… just stayed out of this..." He paused, his frown getting more prominent. "You only make it worse, you-!"

A hand gripping his shoulder, tightly, prompted him to stop before he could finish that sentence. He didn't really need to turn to know that a certain strawberry blonde was burning holes into the back of his head with a disapproving glare.

Sensing that she had gotten her point across, Ai removed her hand from his shoulder, but Conan didn't recede, just continued to scowl at Genta, who didn't look any better than him. The boy was bristling with anger.

"You know, Conan… For all you complain about your brother being stupid and not telling you anything..." like so, Genta shot at him. "You're acting _exactly _like him!"

Conan did not answer him, verbally.

He _did _lunge at him, though.

There was a collective gasp at that ─ not even Ai could help herself. As soon as the two boys hit the floor, however, Conan felt himself roughly brought back into his feet and away from an unsettled ─ and still fuming ─ Genta.

"Edogawa-kun, Kojima-kun!" their teacher yelled, furiously, as she set both children apart. "To the principal office, _now!_"

* * *

Admittedly, Conan's first trip ever to the principal's office had been nowhere near 'fun', but had been bearable enough. Other than having to shake hands with a still irritated Genta as they mutually apologized ─ even if none of them had looked actually sorry ─ it had felt just like a watered-down version of Ran's stern, long scoldings. He had gotten off lightly since it had been his first time misbehaving and had just to promise he wouldn't do it again before they had let them off.

Currently he sat on the floor, in the library of his real house, glaring at the referral form he was to bring back signed the next day. _Sent to the principal's office for starting a fight. _Any other day, he would've rolled his eyes at the thought. _How pathetic is that, really?_

He really didn't want to see Ran's face when she saw that… Or Kogoro's, for that matter.

In fact, he didn't even want to see their face after everything that had happened that morning. Hence, he went straight there after school, without waiting for his friends ─ who he didn't want to face, either.

_What a mess. _He groaned, passing a hand through his face and sighing, forcing himself to look back at the scribbled notes on his lap.

_"AJahSIWnj_

_aJaHsiwnJ_

_aJahsiwnJ_

_aJahsiwnj_

_ajahsiwnj_

_ajahliwnj"_

And the list of combinations went on and on ─ he had filled over ten pages and he _still _couldn't get anything but gibberish nonsense. _Did I get something wrong? _he wondered, taking another look at the code.

"_Did you know, Onee-chan? Today is White Day. Yet, on a day like this, I..._

_I don't know, it's messed up, isn't it?_

_Please, don't hate me for this._

_There are lots of things I still want to tell you, but I guess I'm far too shy to tell you about them. I need to take my time, be patient with myself until I can say them._

_Please, don't forget me._

_I love you so much and I hope that you feel the same for this girl that, even though she seems to think so highly about herself, will always remain loyal to you._

_So thank you for being generous enough to give me a place in your heart. I will always treasure this strong friendship the two of us share._

─ _Hana."_

_If we go by Hanakotoba like the last time, it makes little sense…_

'_Hate' is for 'orange lily', 'shy' is for 'amaryllis', 'patient' for 'azalea'… The quote 'don't forget me' sounds like 'forget-me-not' to me…_

'_Think so highly about herself' could refer to 'narcissus'… 'loyal' definitely means 'iris'... and 'generous' is definitely 'honeysuckle'..._

_There is also 'friendship', which could mean 'jasmine'... And could the 'two' word mean to consider it two times?_

But of course it wouldn't be that easy, unlike the other time it didn't make the message any clearer. Changing the order didn't seem to help either.

_There's just no end to it, _he groaned. _Well, considering that Ai-san was in a hurry, maybe she didn't consider that there were so many combinations..._

_Especially if you considered their Japanese names._ Then 'azalea', 'honeysuckle', 'orange lily', 'iris', 'forget-me-not' could also refer to 'tsutsuji', 'suikazura', 'sayuri', 'ayame', 'wasurenagusa' or 'suisen'... Or if it was meant to be put in capital letters or not...

Conan groaned, this was getting nowhere. Stretching his arms, he stood up and ambled across the extensive library, hoping to find something ─ anything ─ else to keep his mind busy. His eyes fell on the section where his father kept his mystery books and his hand reached for them.

Shaking his head, he decided not to. _I have already read those. _He needed something… challenging. His eyes continued to travel across the shelves.

Until he stopped at a certain spot. Letting his shoulders drop, he took a step away, until he paused, and looked again. A frown took hold of his features.

Gingerly, he took a book out of the place. _Now that I think about it, this is the place where I met Ai-san. _Blankly, he contemplated the dark hollow space that was revealed from behind the row of books. _Well, actually, that's not true._

His hand reached to put the book back into place. It was shaking.

"_This is a secret between us two," the older boy winked. "Okay, Conan?"_

A small smile crossed his lips. _That's right. _He put the book back in place. _This is the place where I would hide when playing hide-and-seek with Dad… A long time ago._

Chuckling, he would remember Shinichi's grin, genuinely pleased to see their father frustrated beyond belief because he couldn't find him. That had been the sole reason his brother made him promise he would never tell him about it.

Once the book was gone, the hand remained hanging in the air, quietly still.

"_Let's play, Conan!" his brother beamed, brightly. "I can't wait to see Dad's face when he realizes he can't win!"_

Something cold hit his hand, causing Conan to blink confusedly and to stare at it. At first, he couldn't understand _why _it was wet, but instantly realized it upon the feeling of that same strange coldness making its way down his cheek.

_Come on. _Stubbornly rubbing his face, Conan scolded himself. _Get a hold of yourself, would you?_

As in an attempt to fight them back, Conan took a deep breath and promptly left the room. He willed his mind to stop thinking, for once, as he wandered around the house, but to no avail.

His phone vibrated with a call, and his brain instantly pointed out that it wasn't _his. _Jodie had taken it to investigate _because Akai-san is dead. _Which he should have seen coming.

Before long the call went to voicemail, to which he was infinitely grateful for. He didn't want to check who it was, fearing that it would be Ran and remember that _they know every single thing._

Groaning, he messed his own hair. It was getting out of hand… which wouldn't have happened if Mitsuhiko had said nothing. If he hadn't tried to help, he…

Then again, Conan himself had been the one that only made it worse. _I hurt them. _He had made Mitsuhiko mad, Ayumi sad… And almost fought, physically, with Genta. He was _not _like that… Why…?

He stopped, not entirely surprised about where he had ended up while in a daze. His expression did not change from the plain, emotionless look as he slowly walked inside the room he had unknowingly landed into.

_What… _The mattress beneath him sunk when he sat on it …_What should I do now?_

_I… _His eyes stung. _I don't know what… _He sniffed. … _I'm supposed to do..._

He leaned down, unconsciously reaching for the pillow. _Damn it, just stop! _With a frustrated groan, he pressed his face against it.

"_What's wrong, Conan?" _He hugged the pillow tightly, bathing himself in the familiar scent that would calm him all those nights, back when he was very young and in need of comfort after a scary nightmare. "_Hey, it's okay to cry. Don't be embarrassed about it."_

"_Shh, it's fine..." _Drawing in a quivering breath, Conan curled around his brother's pillow, closing his eyes shut, letting soft, heart-wrenching sobs fill the silence. "_... Onii-chan is right here, isn't he?" _Soaking it wet with tears he had valiantly fought to keep from escaping, the young little boy pressed himself further against his soothing scent, embracing it with all strength his short arms could manage...

"_I won't ever let anything happen to you, Conan. I promise."_

… All the while wishing, fervently, that he could be hugged back.

* * *

Something was buzzing in his pants' pocket, Conan realized with a tired groan, yet he didn't attempt to move, just snuggled against the pillow when it stopped, deciding that, whoever it was, the caller had just given up. They didn't, however, and the buzzing started once more.

Scowling, he finally reached for his phone and faltered upon reading the name on the display. '_Haibara Ai', _his frown softened at the name showing on the screen, his annoyed expression replaced by a thoughtful one, as his finger wavered over the '_ignore' _button.

"_Just remember this, brat. You can't run away forever."_

With a defeated sigh, he answered and placed the phone against his ear.

"You should head back to the agency," her calm voice stated long before he could even try to articulate a word. "Ran-san called a few minutes ago. Said you weren't answering your phone."

Wordlessly Conan sat up, his free arm still hugging the pillow against his chest after finding himself unable to let go of it. He didn't try to offer her a reply, and she didn't wait for one.

"I told her you were taking a nap here." The boy was almost certain that '_here'_ meant the Professor's house. "But you should still go back. She sounded worried."

Conan swallowed the lump in his throat. "You aren't going to say anything?" If she noticed how raspy his voice sounded after crying, she didn't let him know. "About this morning..."

Ai was quiet for a second. "You just got past your breaking point, nothing unexpected there," her tone was even, just like always, but didn't sound as harsh as usual. "After being subjected to stress for so long, I should have known that you would snap at some point or another. It's a wonder it didn't happen earlier."

Conan barely hummed at that, unable to deny her words. "Could've managed it better, though," he mumbled, resting his chin against the cushion.

"True," she admitted, with no kind of hesitation. "You surprised us a lot." He shifted at that, frowning at the thought of everything that had happened just that morning. "They haven't gotten over it yet, and Kojima-kun is still fuming… He didn't even want to eat some pudding when the Professor offered it to him."

He grimaced. "So they were there?"

"Still are. They are all sitting by the window right now," Conan blinked at that. "They haven't gotten their eyes out of your house, not even Kojima-kun. Ayumi-chan wanted to try talking with you, but she was afraid that it would upset you further."

He sighed tiredly, timidly glancing outside the window to Agasa's home. _Even after everything, they…_

"Go home, Conan-kun," he was mildly surprised at the gentleness coloring her usually cold, nonchalant voice. "Go home and get some rest. We'll talk this over tomorrow, okay?"

Even after the sound of the call being disconnected, Conan did not move. Just gazed out from the window, blankly, before burrowing his face against the pillow, taking into the comforting scent once more…

Wait a second.

… _Scent? _Eyebrows furrowing with confusion, the child sniffed again and jumped back, startled. … _They smell like him… But how?_

Last time Shinichi had stayed home was after he suddenly showed up at his school's play as the Black Night, which was in November. Since then, Ran and Conan had been cleaning the house every month, and that included sheets, obviously. They were nearing _May _already.

There was no way his scent could still remain there.

_Unless… _Outraged, he threw the pillow away. _That bastard stayed here for an entire night. He _was _here._

Renewed with anger, the child brought his phone back. _Where is he staying anyway? _He scowled while he scrolled down his list of contacts. _Probably not far from here, considering he keeps coming and leaving Beika with little-to-no complications..._

He hesitated, a trembling finger hovering over Shinichi's contact. With a frustrated groan, he put his phone away and passed his hands through his face. "Just… Where are you?" he wondered out loud.

His mind instantly wandered to that mysterious person he met at Tsukikage Island. Hirai Arthur, who he had saved him from a fire more than a year ago. Who he had, supposedly, helped Asou Seiji when he got into trouble with an organization. Helped him get another identity and a completely new life somewhere else ─ until he ultimately resorted to murder, of course.

With the new discovery of Watanabe Satoshi's new identity, and that Shinichi had helped him, it was hard not to make the connection between those two. Conan frowned.

_Hattori tried to investigate him a long time ago, _he remembered. _Classmate of Hakuba Saguru and friend of Kuroba Kaito, Mom's teacher's son._

Grasping his phone again, he made a quick web search. _If I'm not mistaken, Onii-chan had been riding with Ayumi and the others when the Touto Circular Railway was almost bombed one year ago... _His eyes narrowed upon seeing something on the screen. _As I suspected, in that train, getting here from that place takes about fifteen minutes._

Closing his eyes with a sigh, he put his phone down. _Of course, that's all circumstantial evidence. _Hoping off the bed, he slowly made his way out of the room. _I can't say for sure they are the same person..._

"_But, did you know this?" _He remembered Hakuba saying that to him once. "_You actually remind me of someone I know."_

He stopped at the doorway, pensive at those odd words.

* * *

"Ah, look!" Haibara looked up at Ayumi's sudden loud exclamation. "Conan-kun is..."

All four children were huddled together next to the window, pleasantly surprised to see that, true to the girl's words, Conan slowly made his way out of his house, his skateboard tucked under his arm. Ducking his head, he let the gadget on the ground and stood over it.

"Do you think he's going home?" wondered Mitsuhiko out loud.

"I hope he is," Ayumi commented, eyes not looking away from the young boy.

Both of them shifted their attention to Genta after he scoffed. "Who cares about that jerk?" he grumbled, leaning back into his seat. Haibara raised an eyebrow at that, noticing that, indeed, he sounded relieved.

She decided not to say anything, just focused back at the boy outside the window, watching as he skateboarded away, getting smaller and smaller before disappearing around a corner.

_Get back home safely. _Closing her eyes, she turned around, leaving his friends to chat amongst each other. _You can do that at least, can't you?_

* * *

"Seriously? Your master plan is spying on Nakamori?"

Kaito's phone fell to the floor with a sickening thud at the sudden voice and, upon realizing it was just Shinichi ─ or Arthur, as he went by nowadays ─ walking to the living-room, a cup of coffee in one hand, a thick book in the other. With a surprised gasp, the thief went to gather it and Shinichi stared blankly, quietly sipping in his coffee.

"So, is that it?" he inquired, sitting at the table.

Exasperated, Kaito motioned to his phone. "You could have _shattered _it."

"Looks fine to me."

"Really, if it happened to break, I would have charged you."

"Can't charge someone that doesn't have the money. If I had, I wouldn't be living here," he raised an eyebrow. "Besides, it fell from _your _hands."

"Because of _you!_"

"Did you find anything?" he didn't bat an eye at the accusation. "You snuck a camera and microphone in the necktie pin you gifted Inspector Nakamori, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he placed his earphone back into place. "From the looks of it, she gave it to him."

"So you _were _spying on her."

"Of course not, idiot."

Just in time for that, the doorbell rang. Kaito sighed tiredly, wondering who it could be. "You answer that," he focused on the phone. "You can do that at least, can't you?"

Merely rolling his eyes, Shinichi stood up, passing by the magician and heading for the door. _Seriously, _he groaned, already annoyed even if he hadn't opened it. _If it's another salesperson, I swear I..._

It rang again. "Coming," he grumbled when he was steps away from the door, and it rang again. _Geez, somebody is impatient._

With a sigh, he turned the knob and opened, far too irritated to even look through the peephole. "What is it?" he spat out, only to freeze in space when he realized he couldn't see anybody in front of him. _Better not be a bell-ringing prank..._

All irritation and anger suddenly washed away from him when he lowered his gaze and realized, with a violent widening of his eyes, that there _was _someone there.

Someone looking up at him, blinking innocent blue eyes behind thick glasses and wearing a bright, childish grin that stretched from side to side in his tiny face.

"Hi!" the little boy chirped cutely. "My name is Edogawa Conan!"

* * *

A/N:

ajjr12: Just one of them, actually…

CherryGirl 21-6: Sure, tell me! I'll try to consider it ;)

snowy: I'll do my best to do that, but don't blame me if I forget from time to time.. I'm a creature of habit, and I've grown used to call her 'Haibara' at this point XD


	72. The Kid Who Came From Beika

**File Seventy-Two: The Kid Who Came From Beika**

_The first thing Shinichi saw when his eyes fluttered open were hospital sheets. That, and the feeling of his cheek resting against the mattress gave him a good idea of what had happened. He must have dozed off, he mused while turning his head, not having any intention to move any further. His eyes softened at the sight of his own fingers, or more specifically, what they were holding into._

_His hand looked far too small in his, he noted with a shuddering breath as he straightened in his seat, body aching after having fallen asleep in such an awkward position, yet never letting go._

_When his gaze rose, he tried not to shiver at the sight that met his eyes. As pale as the blankets that surrounded him, lied his little brother, unsettlingly still. He smiled tiredly, not as naturally as it would have been any other time. "Not awake yet, huh?" he mumbled to nobody in particular, while he gently caressed his forehead, moving his hair out of his eyes._

_Conan made no reply. Shinichi was barely surprised. _

_The kid had been through a whole ordeal. Had gone into hypovolemic shock and had been so very close to dying that Shinichi had been more than willing to break the doctor's nose if they didn't let him give his little brother his blood, even if he had a nasty bullet wound in need of treatment himself ─ thank god Ran had arrived just in time to save both Conan _and _the doctor._

"_It must have been scary." He focused on the boy's faint, almost imperceptible, breathing in an attempt not to think that his parents were currently back home ─ in his wake ceremony_, _of all things. "I know, because it was scary for me, too."_

_Tightening his grip on the little hand, the teenager raised and pressed it against his eyes, which closed tightly. No matter how much time passed, he was certain he would never forget ─ the blood, the coldness, the light fading from his brother's eyes as his life slowly slipped away from his fingers..._

_All the while Conan slept, blissfully unaware of the suffering around him._

_A knock on the door woke Shinichi out of his stupor, causing him to twirl around, alarmed, and saw a nurse smiling at him, politely. "What's this, Kudo-san?" She shook her head in disapproval. "You shouldn't be out of bed. Your wound hasn't healed yet."_

_Shinichi just looked back at her, for a moment more than necessary, as she crept closer to the brothers' position. Before long, his confused expression became a dangerous glare. "Who are you?" he spat, standing upright in front of her while shielding his brother._

_The nurse tilted her head and motioned at the tag with her name on his chest._

"_Nobody but a few nurses and the director of this hospital are supposed to know we're here." He knew, because his father had made sure it stayed that way. "You're none of those."_

_It was almost scary how her expression had morphed upon those words ─ the kindness on her gaze had vanished, and her mouth, that had been hanging open in surprise, had closed, lips curving into such a sinister that Shinichi felt a chill making its way down his spine._

"_Not bad." Her voice changed as well. "I expected it from you, Kudo Shinichi-kun."_

_It was like she was a completely different person from such a few seconds ago._

"_Who are you?" Shinichi repeated, standing still in his place._

_The woman chuckled at that. "How rude of you, Shinichi-kun." His eyes widened, horrified at the familiar male voice that met his ears. "I thought you would remember me from all those times you used to pick Conan-kun up."_

"_You're… Conan's teacher." Realization dawned on him. Then, as if something had just stuck him, he recovered and his glare returned, fiercer than ever. "I thought you were dead."_

_"My partner." Her original voice was back. "He had the nerve to use my fake face by the time he was captured. I went there, said into his eyes that I would set him free." A cold smirk adorned her features. "But he never made it back."_

_Shinichi's bewildered eyes wouldn't tear away from her, and he didn't try to. "What…?" he tried around his drying mouth. "... What do you want?"_

_The menacing smirk didn't bode well for Shinichi._

"Hey, are you still there?" Hirai Arthur blinked, confused at the voice that brought him back. "What are you looking at, anyway?"

Instantly, Hirai jumped back, holding his phone against his chest and away from the thief, who raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Aoko is waiting outside." Kaito slung his bag over his shoulder. "And if we upset her, _I'm _going to be on the receiving end of her complaints."

"I bet you're used to it." Arthur rolled his eyes and went to fetch his bag. Mumbling something under his breath, Kaito walked out of the house with a very annoyed expression painted all over his face.

Hirai gave the picture he had found himself staring all this time one last look, before sighing and putting his phone back in his pocket.

* * *

_In hindsight, this wasn't such a good idea._

That realization had easily fallen on the child the moment he stepped out of the train, skateboard tucked under his arm, and became painfully aware of the fact that he had _not a clue _of where to start looking. As things were now, he was standing in the middle of the station, vacantly looking at the many people that passed by him in a hurry.

He sighed loudly, shoulders dropping. _Didn't really think this through. _Indeed, he hadn't ─ he had acted on an irrational impulse and now he guessed he should deal with the consequences. _Should have called Hattori or something, _he rationalized. _He knows his way around Ekoda, doesn't he?_

_Maybe I should just head back and forget this..._

"Little boy, are you okay?" But before he could even take a step, a voice behind him prompted him to spin around. "Are you lost?"

It was hard not to let show the panic he was going through. "Ah, no." Still, he got out an innocent smile for the worried member of the station staff staring at him. "I'm just waiting for a friend."

The worker nodded and was about to leave... "Eh?" when one of his coworkers suddenly appeared, jogging his way. "Hey, that's the KID Killer!"

"Oh, now that I look at him, you're right!"

Conan took a step back with a flinch. He grimaced when he noticed that people were staring now, but composed himself.

"I've never believed I'd see the KID Killer in person." One of them grinned. "You've done an excellent job, boy, let me tell you."

"Y-Yeah..."

"I take it you're here for KID's heist tonight, right?"

The child blinked at the two workers grinning at each other. "Last time KID couldn't get it, right? That legendary black diamond, Midnight Crow..." the other said. "If this child teams up with Hakuba Saguru, that thief might as well get himself caught for once and for all."

Conan's head perked at that.

"Don't say that! I don't really want him to get caught."

"... Say." Timidly, the kid gathered their attention, motioning at the phone in his hand. "My friend called a while ago and said he's a bit busy." He offered them an awkward smile. "He asked me to come meet him, but I don't really know where he lives." He pretended to tap something else on his phone. "The battery of his phone seems to have died, too..."

"Who is your friend, kid?"

"Oh, it's Hakuba Saguru-niisan." The lie slid from his mouth so easily that it would've made his mother proud. "I was going to help him out with the heist."

Both men hummed in thought. "I don't know where he lives, but..." He smiled, raising his index finger. "He must be with Inspector Nakamori now, thinking over tonight's heist."

"The police station is just next to here," the other offered. "Do you think he-?"

"Ah, I see, thank you!"

"H-Hey!"

Before anything else could be said or done, the child vanished between the crowd of people.

It was roughly ten minutes later that Conan stood in front of the police station, staring intently at the door, yet not moving a finger. _Now, what should I say? _His hands slid inside his pockets.

_I can't just say I'm looking for Hirai Arthur. If he turns out to be him, that would instantly make Hakuba suspicious of him… I could also claim I'm looking for Kuroba Kaito, but with what excuse? _He groaned, turning back around. _I really shouldn't have come here…_

_... Maybe I should really head back before anyone sees me…_

"Huh?" Suddenly, the sunlight was blocked. "Aren't you Edogawa Conan-kun?"

Of course he didn't get to leave unnoticed. Glancing up, he wasn't really that shocked to see Hakuba Saguru towering over him, staring at the young boy standing right in front of him. "Ah, Hakuba-niichan." He blinked, innocently, without moving. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"... No, not really," he answered, truthfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, KID's heist, of course!" Conan turned around and stared up at the teen with a wide grin. "I thought I'd be able to help."

Hakuba raised an eyebrow, not quite buying it, as he inspected his surroundings. "I don't see Mouri-san around." He didn't miss the way the kid flinched. "You didn't run away from home, did you?"

"Of course not!"

Neither detective said anything for a while, just stood there, equally piercing gazes on the other, unwilling to look away. It wasn't until Hakuba bent down closer to Conan that the kid moved. Slightly intimidated, he unconsciously took a step back, but successfully held his inquisitive stare.

"What is that you're trying to investigate?" Hakuba let out a smirk. "I might even help if you want me to." Conan frowned at that. "No need to be suspicious. You helped me connect a few dots of a mystery I was trying to solve."

The child was confused at first until it suddenly hit him. "... The Nishitamashi Twin Towers' Case." He breathed out, eyes widening in horror. "What… What did you find out?"

"Nothing related to the case, per se. I wasn't really trying to look into that. That wasn't _my _case."

He didn't understand what he was implying with that, but let it go ─ he doubted asking Hakuba would actually shed some light into it. "If that's so..." So, with a sigh, he placed his hands inside his pockets. "... what were you really looking into?"

Hakuba smiled politely. "Would you want to take a brief walk?"

* * *

"Coming right up." The bartender grinned as he placed two glasses, one in front of each teen. "Ginger ale, perfect to celebrate a _crushing _victory."

"You should toast with us, Hirai-kun." Aoko smiled back at him, brightly. "It was a complete defeat last night."

"Well..." He gave the other teen a side look, which he avoided with an annoyed groan. "I would, but I'm working here, you know. You and Kuroba do it for me, okay?"

Kuroba seemed far from pleased, giving him a dry chuckle in return. _Who toasts with ginger ale, anyway?_

Hirai smirked at that and stepped away, leaving the two friends alone to talk about the last heist. Once he saw that the girl was distracted enough, he pulled out his phone. _I don't have any missed calls. Good. _Despite that, he frowned slightly. _Maybe I should call him?_

"That aside, Jii-chan, did you hear?" While putting his phone back into his pocket, he caught Kaito whispering to the owner of the bar. "Apparently, there's an old man giving advice to the police."

Jii seemed troubled, not having heard anything about such a thing. "That must be Harry Nezu-san." Hirai took it as a clue to step forward and join the conversation. Kaito gave him a bewildered look, to which he shrugged. "People have been talking about him all morning."

"He's a famous magic trick buster," commented Aoko, not getting her eyes off her phone as she scrolled. "It says the police drove KID off this time thanks to Nezu-san's advice."

"Made his name debunking fraudulent spirit mediums. He's quite the famous one," he then chuckled. "Well, with him around it won't be long until a certain _fraudulent petty thief's _cheap tricks are debunked, too." He grinned at the girl's direction. "Right, Aoko-san?"

"Yeah! Tomorrow will definitely be the day my father captures Kaito KID, once and for all!"

"I can't wait for that."

Kaito glared at his housemate. _Hey._

"Ah, now that I remember there's something I have to do." Ignoring the daggers thrown his way, Hirai turned to Jii. "Sorry, but could I leave early today?"

"Don't worry, just make sure to work twice as hard tomorrow."

"Of course, thank you."

"What's this, Jii-chan?" Kaito rolled his eyes, resting his cheek against his open palm. "Why haven't you fired that guy yet? He keeps slacking off all the time."

"Forgive me for that," Arthur scoffed. "I just don't want to be around while you're dating, is that bad really?"

He promptly ignored the pair, flinching at that, picking up his bag from the floor and walking around the counter. _It's not just slacking off. _Sliding his hand inside his pocket, he clutched the phone. _I have the feeling that there's something I need to fix right now._

"I told you, Hirai-kun! I'd rather turn into a fish than dating Bakaito!"

Kaito shivered. "You _had _to word it like that, didn't you?"

"Oh, Hirai-kun, before you go..." She seemed to momentarily forget about the last topic the moment the teen walked by him. "Do you want to take my notes and photocopy them?"

_Ah, right, I missed school for a few days. Guess Kuroba told her I was sick or something..._

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her with a smile. "Kuroba let me borrow them, _gracefully._"

Aoko grimaced. "Are you sure you don't want mine?"

"Tempting, but it's okay. I can actually read hieroglyphics, you know."

"Liar." Kuroba glowered at him, but it was as if the other was already used to that kind of treatment, because he didn't even blink. "I will tell your school you're working part-time here," he huffed under his breath.

"Idiot, you know our school doesn't care about that stuff." He rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving now. Good luck, Nakamori-san, you'll need it."

"... Hey."

* * *

"Eh?" Conan blinked, curiously, up at the older detective. "What do you mean with 'suspicious'?"

Hakuba barely looked back at him, just stared back ahead as they continued to aimlessly walk around Ekoda's streets. "You don't have to act around me," he stated, calmly. "I know you're here because you suspect him as well."

"That's not-"

The buzzing against his leg forbade him from finishing his sentence. His eyes shifted to his pants' pocket and gingerly ─ and making sure that Hakuba didn't look at the screen ─ pulled it out to see. He could've sighed in relief when he saw his brother's name on it. _At least it isn't Ran-neechan. _If ─ _when _─ she found out he had ran off and taken a train to Ekoda on his own, he would be in a _lot _of trouble. He grimaced.

Without hesitating, he ignored the call and looked back at Hakuba.

"You're aware that Hattori Heiji-kun was investigating him, aren't you?" he didn't even inquire about the phone call. "That person who goes by the name of Hirai Arthur."

Conan remained strangely silent at that.

"Nobody seems to know much about him," Hakuba continued, furrowing his eyebrows as he spoke. "A transfer student. Japanese, but born in London, hence his name. Seemed to have lived on an island before moving to the mainland. His parents were friends with Kuroba-kun's, so he was allowed to live with him for the time being."

"And… that's suspicious because...?"

Hakuba gave him a sharp, serious look.

"_Seriously, that Aoko..." Hakuba gave the magician a side look from his spot. Despite the laughter and joy filling the room, the teen seemed far from enjoying himself ─ it was clear by the way he crossed his arms in front of his chest while resting his back against the wall. "She invited everyone to that surprise party of hers."_

"_Well, maybe she went a bit overboard." Hirai Arthur tilted his head, humming. "But why do you care that much? It's not your birthday, it's Momoi-san's."_

_Kaito eyed the pink birthday cake in the corner of the room and grimaced. "Thank god for that..."_

_Hirai shrugged mildly, then opened his mouth to say something else. "Hey, look!" He didn't get to, however, since Keiko's startled shout brought everyone's attention to her. "What's that?"_

_Confused, Hakuba shifted his gaze to the direction where she was looking. He was mildly surprised when he saw the letters displayed in the screen:_

"_Breaking News!_

_Mysterious Bombing at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers' Buildings?!"_

"_Wow, that's rather scary," casually commented Kaito to the boy beside him, before pausing. "Hey, are you alright? You look pale."_

"_I…" Hirai muttered in turn, looking sick and incredibly shaken. Hakuba doubted anyone had ever seen the boy acting like that before. "I'm going... to the toilet."_

_The teen rushed out of the room right after that, prompting Kaito to blink dumbly at the empty spot beside him, before the shocked voice of the reporter gathered his attention back. This time, he was the one to pale considerably at the sight that met his eyes. There was a girl who strongly resembled Aoko standing, unfazed at the flames dancing on her back, holding a young boy in her arms and against her chest. She looked as if she was about to jump._

"_Wait," Aoko gasped. "Isn't that the KID Killer?!"_

_Hakuba was shocked to realize that, indeed, those were none other than Mouri Ran and Edogawa Conan._

_Like so, everyone spent most of the birthday party with their eyes stuck on the TV screen, unable to look away from everything that was happening so far. Especially when a car basically soared across the sky and landed on the other building, in a crazy display of bravery that boogled everyone's mind… Especially since there was no adult riding the vehicle, just a group of elementary school students._

_Hakuba swore he heard a loud, surprised exclamation coming from the window behind him the moment the car appeared on the TV screen, so he slowly turned around. Squinting his eyes, he made out a silhouette in the middle of the darkness, and momentarily thought of telling Aoko she should call the police. But he didn't._

_That was because he recognized him. To his surprise, the mysterious person was none other than Hirai Arthur, who helda phone next to his ear, wide eyes fixed on the TV inside._

By the time his story was finished, Conan had already forgotten how to breathe. His entire expression screamed _shock _to Hakuba, but he said nothing about that. Instead, he observed as the child closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked back at him, a bit hesitant still.

"So, that's why you tried to look into him?" Conan raised an eyebrow, despite the way he sweated profusely. "You know he could have received a call from his parents or something, and happened to be looking at the TV screen, right? It _was _a shocking sight, after all."

"It could've been it." Hakuba shrugged. "I guess I have always felt he was suspicious, though. You know about that, don't you?" The child blinked at him. "You wouldn't have come here if it wasn't the case."

Words abandoned the young boy, leaving him with his mouth hung open, struggling to get something out. At the sight, Hakuba smirked before stopping walking. "That's all I can give you." He turned to look at something else. "Apart from that, he's quite the ordinary student. An extremely intelligent one, I'd say. I have never seen him struggle with school, although he works part time at a bar."

Conan stared blankly at his companion, then followed his gaze. The words '_Blue Parrot' _met his eyes from across the street, and then he understood why his fellow detective had mentioned that.

"Well, that's all I can help you with." Hakuba turned around, as if to leave. "I have a thief to catch, so I'll be busy for the time being."

"... Wait."

The strawberry-blonde detective paused, giving the serious child a curious look.

"Why did you stop looking into it?"

"I was certain I told you. I've gotten all the answers I was looking for."

Conan's eyes narrowed. "What answers?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's your turn to figure it out yourself."

Having said that, Hakuba began to move again.

"I wish you good luck, Little Detective of the East."

The bespectacled child didn't move from his spot, content to just glare at the older boy who, far from fazed, simply went around the corner and disappeared from plain sight.

_Is he making it a habit to call me that?_

With a huff, he looked back at the bar, just to notice the doors opening. Arguing heatedly, two teenagers walked out and, for a slight moment, Conan genuinely believed he had just witnessed his brother and Ran walking out.

_Of course they're not. _He sighed, taking them a bit more and realizing they were just another ordinary pair of high schoolers. _As if it would be so easy..._

He continued to watch them and noticed, as the boy laughed for some reason, that he _was_ familiar. And no, he was not mistaking him with Shinichi again...

It was as if he had met that person before, a long, _long _time ago. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to remember _where, _but the memory was kind of fuzzy.

_I guess I was too young. _He groaned, shaking his head.

Faintly, however, he could recall holding his mother's hand. She was weeping softly and wearing black...

That boy was there, hugging a young girl as he sobbed. If he struggled, he could see his brother standing there, awkwardly, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do, or say.

He faintly remembered his father as well, looking ahead with a weird, darkened expression little Conan had never seen him with in his entire, short life.

_... If that was Kuroba Toichi's funeral... _His eyes widened upon the realization. _Then... could that guy be?!_

Frowning once more, the boy crossed the street. Then, not getting his eyes off the pair, he placed his hands inside his pockets and, silently, slowed his pace.

It would be no good if anyone found out he was basically stalking them.

At some point, the two teenagers bid goodbye to each other and separated. The girl calmly entered the house they were standing in front of while the boy did the same, in the building that was just adjacent to hers. Little did the teen that the child was currently eyeing his house, peeking from behind a tree that barely counted as a hiding spot.

_So this is it… _The name '_Kuroba' _in the door was clearly visible from his spot. _There's no doubt about it… This is the place..._

One little hand rested on top of the rough surface of the tree bark, the other gripped the skateboard he was still carrying. _The place I have wondered about for more than a year... _His fingers curled against the tree, tightly. _It's here, right in front of me._

He had no idea of how much he stood there, eyes glued to the unfamiliar house, urging his feet to move, only for them not to obey him. But they did, eventually, after taking a shaky breath in. He stood in front of the door, his skateboard completely forgotten on the floor, right next to him.

Getting onto his tiptoes and gingerly ringing the bell proved to be harder than he had expected it to be, especially when his heart wouldn't stop pounding with anticipation. _Is he really there? _The intrusive thoughts didn't take long to appear. _What am I going to say?_

_... How will he react upon seeing me?_

Nobody was answering, Conan realized, anxiety settling in right away. _There's no way nobody is home_. He rang it again. _I saw Kuroba Kaito getting in a few minutes ago... _And again.

With a frown, he went to ring for a fourth time.

But the door opened.

Silenced by shock, the little boy found himself unable to do anything but to stare, wide-eyed, at the person who had appeared in front of him, looking around with a very annoyed expression in his eyes, still not seeing him.

_Hirai Arthur. _

_Could he really be...?_

When the teenager noticed his presence, his reaction was instant. Color drained from his face as he stared back at him with bewildered eyes that almost threatened to bulge out of his eye-sockets.

Conan recovered himself right away. His hands latched against each other behind his back, and he put on the brightest smile he could manage.

"Hi! My name is Edogawa Conan!"

Hirai Arthur seemed to be moments away from a panic attack.

"Ah-le-le?" Yet, it didn't bother him. Instead, he blinked slowly. "Have we met before?"

"A-Ah, no..." He smiled, even if it was obviously strained. "I don't think-"

"AH!" Conan shouted, purposely loud, causing the other to flinch violently. "You're Hirai-san from Tsukikage Island, aren't you?"

"... Y-Yeah." He unconsciously took a step back from the little kid. "Now that I remember, you're Conan-kun, right?"

"Yup! It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Both of them knew it hadn't. None said anything about it.

"What's all that noise about?" There was a voice coming from behind Arthur and, soon, the boy who now Conan identified as Kuroba got closer. "Look, if you don't-"

Kuroba's eyes met with his before he froze, horror taking over his every feature, more-or-less like it had happened to Hirai not even a second ago. This time around, however, it greatly confused the child. The little detective opened his mouth to ask if there was something wrong.

Only for the door to close right in his face with a loud sound.

Conan's eyebrow twitched, his innocent facade long gone.

Now, what was _his _problem?

* * *

"... Why did you do that?"

Kuroba didn't answer immediately, just leaned against the door he had just abruptly closed, wheezing heavily. The ghost of the panicked expression from before was still present on his face caused the detective to give the thief a weirded out look.

"What… What were you thinking?" he let out once he got his breath back. "That kid was about to invite himself inside!"

_That's likely. _Shinichi would bet on that. "But why are you… like that?"

"I'm definitely _not _letting Tantei-kun in, you hear me, Kudo?!"

Kuroba expected him to yell at him to keep his volume low, but what happened next was beyond what he had anticipated. Instead of an angry tirade, the boy blinked confusedly. "Tantei-kun…?" he mumbled, slowly.

Gradually, the puzzlement disappeared and his eyes widened, realization finally falling into him. "Hey, hey..." He breathed out. "What did you call him?!"

"... Tantei-kun?" It came out as a question, without meaning it.

"This 'Tantei-kun' you always talk about… is Conan?!"

"...Yeah?" Kuroba drawled, genuinely weirded out by the way Shinichi was staring at him, so intently. "He's the kid that lives with your girlfriend..." he said, even if he wasn't certain that the other boy was actually listening. "Why… Why does it sound like you're close to him?"

The question snapped Shinichi out of it. "W-Well..." he replied, after a brief pause. "I kind of met him before. In a case."

Eyes narrowing, the thief gave him a long, unconvinced look. "Did you know?" he finally said, with a shrug of his shoulders. "You need to work _a lot _in your poker face."

"I don't have a poker face. You know that."

"It's plain obvious, though. You know him _much_ more than that."

He avoided his gaze with a frown, hustling the magician out of the door and looking through the peephole. When he saw that the kid wasn't around anymore, Shinichi sighed, relieved. "You can't keep a secret, right?" he asked, but didn't turn around.

"I'm sheltering a presumed-dead criminal in my house and I turn into an internationally-wanted phantom thief at night." Even though he wasn't looking, the detective was pretty sure that the magician was raising an eyebrow. "You would think I can be trusted to keep a secret or two, Meitantei."

Lowering his gaze to the floor, Shinichi took a deep breath, hand still resting on the wooden surface of the door.

"Who is Tantei-kun to you?"

The detective closed his eyes. "Conan is my brother." Glancing back at the thief, he could clearly see the shock slowly taking over. "My younger brother, Kudo Conan."

For a less second, it was quiet. Kaito's bewildered eyes didn't leave the detective, as if trying to discern if he was playing a bad joke on him. The sincerity in his eyes, however, told him all he wanted to know.

Naturally he gasped, _loudly_.

"EH?!"

"Keep it down, idiot!" Shinichi hissed. "You have neighbors, in case you haven't noticed yet."

"But you can't be serious!" he stressed out, though in a slightly lower volume. "Tantei-kun is... _that _little kid?" He received a nod as a response. "That… That can't be…"

Shinichi stayed silent.

"Was... Was that why your mother didn't tell mine until _days _after the funeral?"

She had said, after all, that they didn't want the word to spread until she was ready to face the cameras, therefore 'only close family were informed' – in reality, it had only been Yusaku and Yukiko herself there, pretending to be mourning an empty coffin.

Kaito didn't react at first, just looked back at Shinichi with wide eyes before walking past him, and wordlessly letting himself fall in a chair.

He passed a hand through his hair. "You could've told me sooner," he said with a heavy sigh. "You would have saved me for some trauma you know..."

"Trauma?"

"Yeah, you know. Thinking that such a cute little kid could die just like that-" He came into an abrupt stop, eyes widening further, if possible. "You're saying _that _cute little kid was Tantei-kun?!"

Shinichi felt like they were entering a loop.

"... Yeah?"

"Geez, no wonder I didn't know they were the same..."

"Well, he _did _change a bit over the years."

"What I'm surprised about is _you _not knowing he was Tantei-kun."

Shinichi huffed irritably, crossing his arms. "It could've been anyone," he defended while looking away. "And in case you have forgotten, I have a strict rule not to glance at the news the day after your heists."

It caused him terrible headaches, he didn't have to clarify it ─ that was a fact that Kaito had gotten used to, but he still rolled his eyes.

"Besides, you didn't say anything after the airplane thing."

"I thought it went without saying that there's absolutely no other child in this world that could do the stuff he does. You're a detective, and his _brother_, but you didn't make _that _connection?"

"Well..."

"I'm pretty sure Tantei-kun is the only one of his kind."

"... I was in denial, okay?"

Kuroba looked as if he wanted to sigh again.

"KAITO! HIRAI-KUN!"

Both flinched at the female voice bombing through the house and the entire neighborhood before they exchanged equally horrified looks at the realization of how _angry _it sounded just now.

"Seriously..." Kaito sighed despite knowing that he wouldn't like what was coming for them, whatever it was. "Doesn't she know how to use a phone?"

"KAI-!"

"What?!" Throwing the door open, Kaito looked at the girl standing behind an open window, annoyance written all over his face ─ though Shinichi suspected it was only his poker face, and that the boy was beyond scared at this moment.

"I want you and Hirai-kun here. _Now_."

With a huff, Kaito stepped out. "You could've come here yourself, you know," he mumbled under his breath, leaving Shinichi to follow and to close the door behind him, almost hesitantly. _It's normal for her to be angry at Kuroba… but what did I do wrong?_

… _At least she doesn't know karate, right?_

Though he had heard her hits with a mop were rather hard ─ he grimaced for what was to come.

"What do you want?" huffed Kaito, as they both entered her house.

Aoko stood right in front of them, arms crossed in front of her chest, with a rather fierce glare ─ Shinichi couldn't help but shiver a little at the resemblance of another equally scary look he had grown used to seeing.

"I wanted to ask you two idiots _what _you were thinking to close the door in an innocent child's face!"

They both stared, _hard_, at her, for a second more than necessary.

"Aoko-san!"

At the young, _familiar _voice, both boys froze, eyes falling on a certain bespectacled child appearing in the room, a phone ─ which Kaito recognized as Aoko's smartphone ─ in hand, and walked up to her.

"Here!" With a radiant smile, he handed her phone back to her. "Thank you so much! I was worried I couldn't tell Kogoro-ojiisan that I got here safely!"

Shinichi was almost certain that he _didn't _call anyone. With _her_ phone, at the very least.

Aoko returned the smile as she gathered her phone back. "This is Conan-kun, he helps Dad with Kaito KID sometimes." Her expression changed dramatically when she posed her eyes on them both. "He wanted to meet him to discuss something about tonight's heist."

"And?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure Inspector Nakamori doesn't live in _my _house."

"He just got confused," she huffed. "But that doesn't give you the right to leave a young child alone, out in the cold!"

"We're in April, it isn't _that_ cold..."

"I would have expected this from Kaito." Ignoring that, she settled her glare on the other guy who flinched. "But _you, _Hirai-kun?!"

He took a step back. "... I couldn't let a stranger in-"

"But he's a child!"

"Yeah, but haven't you heard? Some parents are really messed up. They send their children to strangers' houses to steal their valuables for them."

Suddenly it wasn't just Aoko glaring at his soul, but also _Conan. _Just one glance towards his way prompted him to look away at the rather intense, deadly look he was sending to him. For all he had been fearing Aoko's mop prior to coming there, now he was considering if that would be less painful than a soccer ball in the face…

He deeply regretted getting Conan into soccer when they were younger.

"What's there to say that brat won't steal your stuff once we give our back to him?" Kaito crossed his arms behind his head.

"What are you talking about?" Aoko raised an eyebrow, before smiling at the child standing right next to her. "Before you two idiots came here, Conan-kun and I talked for a bit. He's just a polite and cute little boy, there's no way he could do something like that. Right, Conan-kun?"

"Yup!" His previous angry facade gone, he nodded at the girl ─ though internally cringing at the 'cute' part. "Aoko-san is very nice, too!"

"Aoko-neechan is okay, too."

"Aoko-neechan, then!"

Kaito made a monumental effort so not to puke in the spot.

He knew for a fact that it was the same for the detective standing beside by the way the corner of his lip twitched in an unnatural manner. But it wasn't like he had any chance to comment on it, even if he wanted, because a phone started ringing.

"Ah." Shinichi pulled his phone out. "Sorry, I need to answer this."

Adding nothing else, he opened the door and disappeared from their sight.

"What's wrong with him?" Aoko raised an eyebrow. "Always making weird phone calls..."

Kaito chuckled. "Probably his long-distance girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Wide-eyed, Aoko gave the door a surprised look. "Ah, I see. Must have been hard for him to move out here, so suddenly..."

The teen hesitated a bit. "Yeah..."

All the while Conan stared with round, innocent eyes that prompted Kaito to worry about _what _the child was thinking about.

"Hey, Ran," once out of earshot, Shinichi greeted the girl on the phone.

"Is Conan-kun there?"

Shinichi blinked at the sudden question. "Eh?"

"I asked if Conan-kun is there," she repeated, with an unwavering voice. "He was supposed to be at the Professor's house, but when I called, the Professor was surprised that I was asking for him. He said he had headed back home an hour ago."

"And what makes you think he's there, exactly?"

"He just called and said he was with you. Besides, if he wasn't there, you would sound a bit more worried."

The teenager hesitated, glancing at Aoko's window with a groan. _Of course he said that, that brat, _he thought, frowning a little. _Though, from the looks of it, I'd say he isn't certain of who I am..._

_I hope._

A little head popped from behind the glass, causing Shinichi to jump backwards, startled. "Ah! There he is!" the child shouted, far too loudly for the high school detective to think it wasn't on purpose. "Hakuba-niichan!"

Shinichi froze for a second. _Hakuba?! _he cried in his mind, spinning around to see that, indeed, the detective in question was behind him, with a polite ─ and incredibly fake ─ smile plastered all over his face.

"So he _is _there." Ran must have heard Conan's voice through the phone, Shinichi supposed. "Was it so hard to say?"

"W-Well..." It was hard to articulate a word, with Hakuba staring at him like a hawk. _Doesn't this guy know what a private conversation is?! _"I'll talk to you later. I'm a bit busy, so..."

Ran sighed, as if she wasn't surprised about that any longer. "I'll call you back." She replied softly, then continued with a firmer voice. "There are… things I want to talk about with you, Shinichi."

He couldn't help the feeling of dread that built up inside him at those words, but kept it to himself. Once ending the call and placing his phone securely in his pocket, he turned to Hakuba, who was _still _there. "What?" he finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

Conan was staring through the window as well.

Hakuba shrugged, before knocking on Aoko's door, indifferent to Shinichi's annoyance ─ which only helped in fueling the irritation even more.

"What are you doing here?" asked Arthur, as the door opened and Aoko let him inside.

"I called him!" answered Conan, with a blinding grin. "Since Inspector Nakamori isn't here, I was hoping Hakuba-niichan would let me help with KID's heist tonight."

Kaito mentally groaned at that. Everything was getting more complicated at the second.

"But, little boy..." Hirai bent down slightly to the kid, who stared impassively back at him. "You can't just-"

"Why not?" interrupted Hakuba. "If we have the infamous KID Killer on our side, that petty thief will have nowhere left to run."

Conan grinned. Hirai glared. Hakuba eyed them both for a moment, before a smirk took hold of his features.

"If you don't believe it, you could actually come along, Hirai-kun."

"... Excuse me?"

"Right, why don't you go?" Aoko beamed at him. "Maybe you could spot something useful to catch KID, like you always do!"

The child blinked. "Always?"

"Yeah." With a nod, the girl crouched down right in front of the child who just stared back at her, curiosity glimmering in his eyes. "Hirai-kun has a good eye. Whenever there's a case, he will always spot random stuff that doesn't seem important at first, but then turns out to be crucial."

He continued to stare. "Do you run into cases often?"

"All the time," Kaito huffed, rolling his eyes. "That guy attracts death. Seriously." Hirai's face paled at the frown that Conan's face had acquired. "Sometimes I fear that _I _will become a murder victim if I keep hanging out with-"

"Kuroba!" hissed Hirai, elbowing him.

The magician didn't understand what he had said wrong.

"Even if I notice stuff, I'm terrible at deductions." Hirai scratched the back of his head, butting in before his housemate could even _think _of saying something else. "I'm not a detective, you know..."

"But you could make a fantastic one," commented Conan, hands latching behind his back, innocently. "You solved a murder case at Tsukikage Island when we met. That was _amazing!"_

_Don't act like you didn't solve it as well!_

"Wait a second..." Aoko blinked. "You knew each other?"

"Kind of," replied the older boy, with a nervous smile. "We met once before I moved here."

"... Then, how come you thought he could be a thief?"

Hirai stared back at her, blankly. She frowned.

"... Maybe we should get going?" he tried, heading back to the door. "Lead the way, Hakuba-"

"HIRAI-KUN!"

* * *

"What?!" All four children's heads snapped towards the professor's direction. "Conan is with Shinichi?!"

"EH?!" Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko chorused, shock written all over their faces, while Haibara simply watched him, bewildered eyes glued on his form.

"Yeah, that's what he said," continued Ran over the phone. "And it seems it's true since I heard his voice when I talked with Shinichi just now."

The girl sounded concerned, despite what she was saying. "Don't worry, Ran-kun." Agasa tried to reassure her as much as he could. "If he's with Shinichi, it will be okay. He knows what he's doing."

For some reason, the girl hesitated for a second, before letting out a long sigh. "... I hope so."

It wasn't until Agasa ended the call that Haibara looked away from him, her gaze focusing back on the magazine she had been reading, just as the children chatter came back into life, somewhat reassured that Conan was most likely fine.

Even Genta had seemingly forgotten he was angry when Ran had called, asking if the kid was still there.

_You couldn't even get back home without stirring more trouble. _Despite shaking her head from side to side, her lips were curved in slight amusement. _Just went your way out to meet your missing brother._

_Seriously, he's more trouble than he's worth, that stupid, reckless, stubborn detective..._

* * *

"Ah-choo!"

At the vicious sneeze echoing in the room, all gazes immediately fell on the little kid, who rubbed his nose with an irritated look in his eyes.

"I warned you it would be cold," stated Hakuba, not even glancing at him. "Why you didn't accept Kuroba-kun's old winter clothes is beyond me."

Conan looked away, almost disgusted by the idea. _As if I would accept clothes from someone like him… _

Probably, he was still salty over the door incident… Just a tiny little bit.

The feeling of fabric against his neck brought him out of his thoughts and prompted him to look at the person who was kneeling in front of him. "Honestly," sighed Hirai, as he wrapped the scarf he had been wearing before around Conan's neck. "It won't be any good if you caught a cold, Conan-kun."

Conan blinked, owlishly. "You're quite the mother-hen, Arthur-niichan," he observed, prompting the other to stop his movements, completely. "Say..." A wide smile ─ that secretly gave Shinichi the chills ─ painted his small face. "... Do you have a younger brother or something?"

Shinichi's lungs started working on that question.

"Oh, silly me!" continued the kid, his smile still bright. "You used to work at a clinic with Narumi-sensei and probably treated many children. That's why you act so brotherly all the time!"

"... Ah, yeah." He forced a laugh. "T-That's about right."

Only once the teen stood up and looked elsewhere, Conan let his facade drop, his sharp gaze fixing on his back. Shinichi literally _felt _his glare, but shrugged it off as a product of his own imagination ─ he didn't dare to confirm it, though.

_That kid... I'd say that he knows but… _He frowned, deeply, sticking his trembling, almost frozen hands inside his pocket. … _he isn't saying anything._

_He would… say something if he knew it was me._

… _Right?_

Hakuba only stared intently at the two brothers, not offering a word. Before long, the younger Kudo sighed, little hands tightening the scarf around his neck. "Why is it so cold, anyway?" he complained out loud, his fingers grasping against the fabric, in an attempt to retain as much warmth as possible.

"Weren't you listening, kid?" Nakamori turned to look at him, hugging himself because of the cold. "Kaito KID is weak to the cold."

"I _know _that," he stressed out, almost impatiently. "But knowing KID, he would just stick some heating pads all over his body, or something. You used that kind of strategy last night, didn't you?"

While Nakamori looked back at him, clueless of what to answer to that, Shinichi let out a dry chuckle, eyes fixed on the inspector's pin. _I told you it wouldn't work. _He could only imagine Kuroba's expression right now as he watched everything from the hidden camera.

"KID? What are you saying?"

Confused, Conan looked at the old man that was still giving them the back, and focusing all his attention on the jewel on display. _Nezu Harry, _Conan's brain provided. Hakuba had told him he had been aiding the police and had suggested that keeping the Midnight Crow in a room at low temperature would protect it from theft.

"I couldn't care less about that brat in white."

"Eh?" Nakamori was clueless. "But didn't we make it this cold in order to catch KID?"

"My prey isn't the one in white… But the one in black."

Even Hirai looked puzzled at this point, Hakuba noted with slight amusement. "This morning, my father, the commissioner, received another advance notice," he informed the rest. Then, closing his eyes, he cited. "Tonight at midnight, please forgive my rudeness when I take my black jewel ─ Kaito Corbeau."

_The one in black. _The child just stared back in shock. _Kaito Corbeau... _He shivered violently, and this time he knew it was _not _because of the cold. _This… This has to be some sort of sick joke, right?_

Shinichi frowned as well, closing his eyes to keep himself calm. _Corbeau means 'crow' in French. _He could have laughed, except that the joke was not funny to him. Not to Conan either. _Really, what are the odds?_

Equally solemn gazes fixed in on the jewel that was to be stolen tonight and, in their minds, both brothers chorused:

_A black crow._

As Hakuba told them all what he knew about it, Conan slowly made his way to the jewel. Apparently, Kaito Corbeau was a phantom thief that had gone active in Las Vegas not so long ago, scattering countless crow feathers in the crime's scene before stealing his target.

The most surprising thing was, by far, that he looked exactly like Kaito KID, only that he donned a raven black suit instead.

_A black Kaito KID, _mused Conan in his mind, observing the Midnight Crow with a thoughtful look. _As if the white one wasn't troublesome enough…_

Half an hour later, however, he found out that he wouldn't be dealing with two of them, after all. A mail had come to the police department, with his same signature, that said: '_Tonight, I'll just be watching'._

"It seems he's curious about Kaito Corbeau," supposed Hakuba.

"Corbeau, Corvette, whatever," sighed Nakamori, letting himself plop down on a nearby pedestal. "Thanks to him, we've lost the chance to catch KID-" A scream of pain followed. "IT'S HOT!"

Blankly, the kid stared at the pedestal in question before reaching to touch it with his tiny fingers. Frowning, he got onto his tiptoes and stretched himself.

He didn't get to. He was too short for that.

Conan wasn't amused.

It didn't help that another hand rested on the surface, easily. "Wait a second..." Hirai blinked at the Inspector. "This isn't hot. At all."

"What did you say?!"

"Don't touch it," Nezu scolded, causing the two to flinch back with a scared expression.

Then, he went to explain that the pedestal was something he had brought to Japan from abroad. Two pairs of eyes curiously watched Nakamori's men placing a crystal container with the jewel inside, on top of the pedestal. As soon as they did, spikes popped out of nowhere and spun, transforming it into something akin to an electrical saw.

Conan shrieked, taken aback by it. Before he had the chance to leap back, a hand on his hoodie plucked him from the ground and away from danger.

The child gazed at the older boy, and something Shinichi couldn't decipher shone behind his eyes.

_You always have my back, huh? Even now…_

"Thank you." Finally, after what it had seemed an eternity, the kid smiled.

Shinichi gave him a jerky nod of his own, leaving him back into the ground. He looked away, feeling uncomfortable at the pair of expressive, innocent eyes that were _still _fixed on him.

As if the child was waiting for something _more._

It never came.

* * *

… _How did he do it?_

His mind couldn't get around it, not even after they were done for the day. The heist, in itself, had been rather quick ─ one moment several black feathers were dancing all around them, and the other a coin had been left in the jewel's place.

"_Next time I'll be back to take the real thing," _those words, in French, were engraved on it.

Nezu had, after all, switched the Midnight Crow with a fake one.

"Are you satisfied now, Conan-kun?" Conan blinked, startled out of his own mind, before turning to look at the teen smiling down at him. "Even if it wasn't a KID's heist, in the end."

The kid nodded, childishly. "It was so fun!" he beamed back. "Kaito Corbeau-san is infinitely better than KID, if I'm being honest."

Arthur laughed forcefully. _I'm sure that guy wouldn't like that if he heard it._

Staring for a moment more than necessary, the young boy skipped ahead. Once he was out of his brother's sight, Shinichi let out a heavy sigh. _I'm exhausted,_ he complained in his mind. _Quite the busy day today…_

His gaze fell on the little kid walking ahead of him, bouncing with each step. He could have shaken his head and told him to… just _stop, _but for obvious reasons he could only keep his thoughts to himself, and maybe laugh a little.

For all he had been longing for the day he could walk with him like this, a pleasant quietness settling around them as they enjoyed their company, he couldn't help but think that the silence was rather uncomfortable. Conan's smile was incredibly forced, and Shinichi, this time around, was desperately wishing that the kid would just _go home._

"Say, Conan-kun," forcing himself out of his intrusive thoughts, Shinichi spoke up. Conan's gaze flickered to him, and the teen couldn't help but observe the way his eyes seemed to glimmer differently under the dim light of a street lamp. "Are you heading back home?"

It was quick, almost imperceptible, but Shinichi saw Conan's shoulders slumping, and that odd glimmer dimming into nothing but a faded glow.

"Yeah." Soon, the mask he was using before was back in place, hiding whatever feeling had been displayed for Shinichi to see just now. Conan grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I have school tomorrow, so I guess I should head back home."

"I will go with you. Come, we can go catch a train at the station." The child looked genuinely confused at that, which amused the older boy. "I'm not letting a kid take a train so late into the night."

"Okay!" He nodded, enthusiastically. "Ran-neechan will be very surprised to see you again, Arthur-niichan!"

Shinichi came to a stop at that, Conan didn't seem affected by that. "... Now that I think about it..." He forced a smile down at the kid. "... Would you like to stay with us for the night? You can leave for school early tomorrow."

"Really, can I? Thank you so much!"

While the child started to run ahead, laughing as he did so, the high school detective seriously considered his chances of surviving the night.

* * *

A/N:

CherryGirl 21-6: That's a very cool idea, thanks for suggesting it! I want to wrap up a few things before then, so it might take a while, though… But I really liked it ;)


	73. Midnight Crow

**File Seventy-Three: Midnight Crow**

"Eh? Quit being a thief and go to Las Vegas?"

Kaito stared at his mother for the longest time, until he ascertained that she wasn't joking and dropped his gaze to the table, thoughtfully. Frankly, it didn't sound that bad ─ he had always dreamed to become the greatest magician, just like his father, and actually getting the chance to work on-stage there would get him a step closer to that.

But then, what about _everything? _All he had done was Kaito KID… Would it be for naught?

"Shinichi-kun can stay here and watch the house," continued Kuroba Chikage, as she stirred the stew she was preparing. "And you can come with me to Las Vegas. It wouldn't be a bad idea to quit being a thief and become a Las Vegas magician instead."

Her son didn't respond, just gazed at the space in front of him as he actually considered it.

"Hey, I'm back," Shinichi's voice resounded throughout the entire house and, sure enough, he made an appearance inside the kitchen. Once he was there, his steps came into a halt and the confused blinking arrived instantly. "Ah, Kuroba-san! Long time no see."

"Welcome home, Arthur-kun," smiled the woman. "It's nice to see you."

The magician was confused at that. _Why did Mom call him-? _His thoughts came to a stop when he turned to the detective's direction and realized, with a shuddering breath, that there was a little _living _something standing behind his legs.

"Good evening," said the boy, politely, as he stepped in front of Arthur. "I'm Edogawa-"

"Conan-kun, right?" Grinning brightly, she moved closer to the kid and kneeled in front of him. "Oh, my. You have grown a lot… I suddenly feel _so _old."

"Uh, excuse me, but..." Conan's head tilted to one side. "Have we met before?"

"Of course we do! Your mother was my husband's student, and a good friend of mine," she answered, not paying attention to the way the child took a sharp intake of air. "You were too young then. I guess it's understandable you don't remember-"

"Mom!" Kaito's startled gasp brought her attention away from the paling child. "You know that kid?!"

"What are you talking about, Kaito? You know him as well. He's-"

"Nevermind, Mom!" Still shaking at the chain of events developing far too fast for his own liking, he stood up from the table and sprinted to Arthur, who simply stood there, frozen with shock. "I'm borrowing this guy over there for a moment."

"Eh? But dinner will be ready soon..."

"We'll be right back," he assured her and then roughly dragged him away by his arm.

Both the child and the woman stared blankly at the place the teenagers had disappeared from, before looking at each other again. Conan shrugged, then smiled. "Do you need help with that, Kuroba-san?"

Meanwhile, Shinichi set an annoyed gaze at Kaito, yanking his arm away from his grasp as soon as they were out of hearing range. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he silently demanded an answer. The thief seemed to be barely affected, angrily pointing at the direction where the kitchen was.

"Why?" He sounded terribly stressed out. "Why did you get Tantei-kun in my house?!"

"Hey, calm down-"

"How am I supposed to calm down?! _Tantei-kun_ is in _my _house. That's a disaster waiting to happen, for both of us!"

"I can't just drop an eight-year-old in a train station in the middle of the night! What was I supposed to do?! Go to Beika myself and _hope _that Ran doesn't recognize me?!"

"That kid chased me in a paraglider across the city. I'm pretty sure he can endure a fifteen-minute trip home..."

"He did what-?!"

"Ah, right. I didn't tell you _that. _The kid just pretended to fall off a building-"

"You _let _him fall off a building?!"

Kaito was about to defend himself, but then took notice of Shinichi's scandalized face and smirked. "I didn't take you as the overprotective kind of brother, Meitantei."

He was definitely _not _going to mention that he had actually left the kid stranded on top of a train that night. Just nope. Not a chance.

"Overprotective, you say?! Conan is eight! _Eight_." The detective waved his hands around, struggling to get his point across. "How am I supposed to react-?"

Kaito's eyebrow rose, prompting him to pause, then let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"... Forget it." Groaning, he pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a terrible headache coming. "You have a futon somewhere, right? I'm having Conan to sleep with me so I can watch him, just in case he tries… to investigate or something. I can sleep with my contacts and wig on, I guess..."

"That's the worst idea you have ever had."

"Would you rather have him in _your _room?"

"... On a second thought, that's the best idea you have ever had."

* * *

_This is going to be a long night, _thought Shinichi as he laid on the bed, facing the ceiling, unwilling to look at his side.

If he did, he knew his false identity would crumble into pieces by the pair of eyes intensely staring at him from the darkness. Seriously, that kid looked as if he could see right _through _his soul, and it genuinely scared Shinichi.

He wouldn't be _that _surprised if he knew, actually...

"Why didn't you say something?"

That startled him. "W-What?"

"About that trick," replied Conan, unblinking. "You know what trick Kaito Corbeau used, right? How was it done?"

Shinichi could have sighed in relief when he realized the true meaning behind his words. Then he looked at the child who was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"He didn't use a trick," answered the high school detective, causing the kid to look back at him in shock. "He used magic."

It was silent for a moment. Shinichi could tell without looking that his brother was looking at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Idiot." Conan scoffed. "There's not such a thing as _magic._"

Shinichi laughed nervously at that. _You would be surprised, _he thought while the face of a certain scarlet-eyed witch popped in his mind. Finally, he turned to face the little child, mouth opening to say something, until he paused.

"You forgot to take out your glasses," he told the young boy with an amused smile.

His hand reached to his face. "Ah, right." He chuckled, taking his glasses off. "It's not the first time I forget about them. Luckily, I don't wear contacts." After setting the glasses beside his head, he turned to look at the older boy and, with a bright smile that caused Shinichi to shiver, he continued. "Did you know it's _very _dangerous to sleep with your contacts on?"

"A-Ah, really? Is that true?"

"Yeah! The contact prevents the eye from getting oxygen and makes it dry. It could even get it infected," then he added with a big grin. "It must hurt _a lot_, right?"

"... Sounds like it."

"You could even go _blind..."_

Shinichi actually wondered if it wouldn't be best to get blind, so not to have to keep looking at Conan's bone-chilling smiles he had been sending his way for almost an entire day now.

"Do you wear contacts, Arthur-niichan?"

"... No. I have a perfect sight, I don't need them."

"Ah, is that so? I'm really jealous, if I'm being honest."

"A-Anyway, it's late. We should really go to sleep, Conan-kun."

"You're right. Goodnight, Arthur-niichan!"

"Goodnight."

With that, the teenager turned around, giving his back at the child who copied his movements. He didn't close his eyes, just focused on the quietness of the night. Conan did the same.

And while they pretended to sleep, a single thought rang in both of their minds:

_He is not sleeping._

* * *

"Oh, Arthur-kun, Conan-kun," smiled Chikage, upon seeing the two boys slowly making their way to the kitchen. "Good morning!"

"... G-Good morning."

Kaito, who was sitting on the table with his back facing the doorway, turned around, curious about the two weary voices that had greeted his mother in unison. He grimaced at the sight of two identical black rings contrasting against pale white faces. Conan sat in Arthur's arm ─ who, frankly speaking, didn't look any better ─ rubbing his eye, mumbling something under his breath. He looked annoyed, Kaito noted, and attributed it to the fact that he was being carried to the kitchen.

He didn't take his gaze away from them, watching Arthur setting the boy into a chair. _Meitantei… acting like a mother-hen? _The magician truly couldn't believe his own eyes. _Hopefully, this doesn't blow his cover off…_

… _If he still has a cover, anyway. It is Tantei-kun, after all... _

"Here you go, Conan-kun."

The kid jumped, startled at the plate that was placed right in front of him, before he nodded at the woman with a tired smile. Chikage winked in return before returning to the kitchen, leaving the boy to give his breakfast another stare, before he slowly dug in.

"You're almost ready, aren't you?" asked Arthur, his breakfast now in front of him, as he looked at the little child. "We'll drop you at the station… You can walk to school from there, right?"

Stifling a yawn with his hand, the young boy nodded his head, prompting the teenager to chuckle amusedly. Kaito, alongside his mother, gave the older detective a long look, before the magician smirked. The rest of the meal went relatively quiet, with a comment about yesterday's heist here and there from Conan's part, Kaito scoffing when the child pointed out that the Corbeau was one million times better than KID…

"It was delicious, Kuroba-san," smiled Arthur, once he was done, standing with his plate in hand.

"Don't worry, I'll do it," hurriedly, the woman pried it away from his hands. "You and Kaito should go grab your things. Conan-kun's train is going to leave soon."

"Ah, thank you." The teen nodded his head, showing his appreciation. "You heard her, Conan-kun, wait here-" He came into a confused halt when his eyes landed on the child, whose head was tipped slightly forward, definitely _not _looking at him ─ or anywhere else, really. "Conan-kun?"

Conan jerked at that, head spinning to his way. "Uh… Yeah," he said, blinking repeatedly. "I'll wait here." Followed by that, the kid gazed back ahead, blankly, resting his head against an open palm with a heavy sigh.

Hirai gave him a long, indiscernible look before leaving the room.

* * *

"Seriously, that deduction-freak..." sighed Ran exasperatedly as she flipped her phone close, rather violently.

"What?" questioned Kogoro, looking from over the newspaper. "His phone is still off?"

"Yeah." Shaking her head, dejectedly, she put her phone away and focused on the breakfast she had prepared, that still sat in front of her. "He must have turned it off after I called yesterday, that coward..." She continued to grumble, obviously annoyed, as she munched on her food. "He couldn't even call to say _anything _about Conan-kun..."

"Why don't you call the brat, instead?"

"He isn't answering either."

Kogoro scoffed at that. "It goes in the blood, huh?"

Ran couldn't really deny her father's words, just let out a frustrated groan in response. The detective stayed silent, observing the girl that was merely staring at her plate, deep in thought until she sighed. For less than a second, Kogoro caught her eyeing the empty seat at her side, where a certain troublesome brat with glasses would sit every other morning.

"Don't worry, Ran." he said, prompting the teenager to look back at him, startled. "You said that you heard his voice you spoke with the detective brat, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"The kid is okay," he interrupted her, and went back to his breakfast. "That detective brat can be a lot of things, but if it concerns his brother, he'll make a good job."

Ran hummed thoughtfully, realizing that her father had a point in that. She smiled a bit with a nod until her eyes fell on the newspaper that lied right beside him. "Huh?" She blinked, focusing on a certain article. "There was a KID's heist yesterday."

"And tonight as well. The jewel wasn't stolen, it seems," replied the detective, casually. "Though it appears there's another thief fooling around ─ a _black _KID."

"Say, Dad..." This _black KID _didn't settle well with Ran. "Didn't Mitsuhiko-kun describe those people as-?"

"Men wearing black, yeah. And there's also this 'Snake' character, who has been showing in many KID's heists lately. Though, it might be just a coincidence but..." He closed the newspaper, taking it as he stood up, then added as he whined. "I had to cancel Yoko-chan's invitation for a talk show tonight and everything… So there's no turning around now."

Ran only nodded, ignoring the annoyed facade her father had just put on, with a tight frown decorating her face.

"Be careful."

* * *

"So, I assume he didn't find himself in Kaito KID's secret room, _right_?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Shinichi rolled his eyes, opening the room of the guest room he had been borrowing for a year now. "You were in _your _room all night."

"Yeah, _sleeping." _He then added with a chuckle. "Unlike others."

The detective gave him a dirty look, walking inside the room. He stopped in his steps when he realized something on top of his bed. _That kid, he almost forgot this. _He shook his head, moving closer to the school bag and skateboard that he had brought with him to Ekoda, hands reaching to grab them, until he froze into place. _Come to think of it, why is he here, all of a sudden?_

_He even brought his bag with him… Didn't he stop by the agency?_

"Hey!" Kaito was startled when the detective dashed out of the room, empty-handed. "What's with you?"

Not even bothering to give him a reply, the detective continued his way, until he stopped right in the doorway to the living room. He was confused for a moment more than necessary, but then he let his shoulders drop with a sigh, before creeping up on the boy, whose face was currently burrowed between his arms, resting on top of the table.

"H-Hey," whispered Kuroba, with a panicked tone, as he watched him gently picking his brother up. "What are you planning?"

Shinichi gave the magician a blank look, and without replying, crossed the room to the couch.

"Wait," Kaito was beside him the moment he set the child down. "You aren't leaving him here, are you?"

"Can't exactly skip school, can I?" Shinichi shrugged. "Hakuba is onto me already. Better face him than give him another motive to stalk me secretly."

"So you're leaving _Tantei-kun _to sleep in _my _house, when I'm not in it."

"You might want to lock your door."

"What's there to say that he doesn't know how to pick-lock?!" Kaito was exasperated ─ he could see him doing that. "In fact, how do you know he isn't _faking _being asleep?!"

"Breathing patterns."

"... Whatever, just wake him up already and ship him off to Beika, for goodness' sake!"

The detective went strangely silent at that, kneeling down in front of the couch and, observing his brother up from close, passed a hand through his hair, keeping his bangs away from his forehead. A frown carved itself deep into Shinichi's face as he took into the ghostly paleness of his skin contrasting against black rings under his eyelashes.

"I can't do it," he admitted. "Not when he looks _this _exhausted."

"Well, that's natural," commented Kuroba, shrugging. "He didn't sleep last night either, did he?"

To his surprise, Shinichi shook his head. "Something else happened."

"How do you know?" At the lack of an answer, Kaito sneered. "Is that your detective instinct or brother instinct speaking?"

"Don't be stupid."

"Whatever it was, you are right, it seems. Tantei-kun got into a fight yesterday at school."

"Eh?! How did you-?" His head snapped towards Kaito's direction, who was waving a piece of paper with a mischievous grin on his face, and instantly snatched it from him. Eyes widening at the referral form in his hands, he gave the thief a bewildered look. "Where did you get that?!"

"Why, from Tantei-kun's school bag, of course."

"You went through Conan's bag?!"

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Is forgetting my profession a family thing or...?"

Shinichi looked as if he wanted to ask what was that about, but ultimately decided not to. With an irritated huff, he stood up and headed back to the guest room, the paper still in his hand.

The magician watched him leave before looking at the kid sleeping peacefully on the couch, in silence for several seconds before chuckling to himself.

_Who could have said that this is the same miniature detective that almost killed me with a soccer ball when we first met?_

Though that wasn't their first meeting, actually, Kaito reminded himself. With a puff of smoke, the magician produced a blanket and laid it on top of the innocent-looking child.

"_Wow! You're amazing, Kaito-niichan!"_

This time, he _could _see the resemblance.

* * *

_What is going on with you, Conan?_

The question had never left his mind ever since he had read that referral slip Kaito had stolen that morning. Conan, a child who strongly despised violence and relied on logic for his everyday life, had tried to start a fight with _Genta _when his teacher had separated them before it could escalate any further. The boy was definitely _not _like that, Shinichi could safely bet on it.

"Huh? You're asking me if something is bothering Conan-kun?" Thus, when recess had rolled about, the detective had decided to move to a more private place in the school to call the only person who would be able to shed some light into his concerns. "Haven't you considered actually asking your brother?"

"You probably know him as much as I do, Ai-chan." Shinichi rolled his eyes. "That stubborn kid isn't going to say a word, and you know that."

"Point taken. You're two peas in a pod, so I guess that's the natural outcome."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"That you are a blockhead," she stated without hesitation. "And so is Conan-kun."

Shinichi groaned at that, but refrained from saying anything else.

"I assume you already know about Hondou Eisuke." He made an affirmative sound. "He told him that someone in the FBI died."

_Damn it, that guy… _The detective sighed, audibly, at that.

"Tsuburaya-kun and the others overheard it," continued the girl, evenly. "Panicking, Tsuburaya-kun ended up calling Ran-san and telling her everything."

"Hey, hey, with 'everything' you mean..."

"I mean _everything, _Shinichi-san. Every single little detail Conan-kun had entrusted him with. _Everything._"

Silence followed her words, causing her to glance briefly at the screen to confirm that, yes, the detective was still on the line. For several moments he said nothing, but then he groaned loudly and distinctly exasperated. Her lips pressed against each other, then her eyes slid closed.

"You know, Shinichi-san," she spoke up, with a soft voice. "I've been thinking about this all night… Couldn't this actually be a good thing?"

"What?" Shinichi was seriously taken by surprise by that statement ─ coming from _her, _of all people.

"I know it's not good to involve so many people. It's dangerous, and the thought of it honestly scares me, but..." She paused in order to take a deep breath before continuing. "Detective Mouri can be a lousy detective most of the time, but if he gets serious about something, he can be quite a competent one. Ran-san has a good head over her shoulders and is a karate champion."

"Everyone is an easy target for the Organization, _you _know that."

"Shinichi-san. Everyone in this world knows Ran-san is one of the people to hold closest to your heart. If they found out you are alive, do you think they were going to leave her alone _even _if she didn't know?"

Shinichi could not emit an answer, even if he wanted to.

"I don't know how you did it so they didn't attempt to eliminate her, but... As it was, she was only a defenseless prey wandering in the dark. More than protecting her, you were just making things unnecessarily harder. Besides..." Even though he couldn't see her, he knew that the girl was smiling, ever so softly, on the other side of the phone. "It might be a freeing feeling, not having to hide everything for once."

_Shiho-chan… _It wasn't like he couldn't understand where all of that was coming from. While having to hide and lie his way for an entire year had been immensely hard, he didn't think he could ever imagine doing that for his entire life, like it had happened to the young girl on the phone. So it was understandable that she might want to give up lying so much…

Even if the prospect obviously scared her beyond belief.

"So, how did it go?" she then asked suddenly. Shinichi blinked, confused. "I imagine Conan-kun would have wanted to kick himself when he realized the brother he has been looking for so long was just a fifteen minute-long trip away from his home."

It didn't even surprise him that she knew where he was. _Must have used the spare glasses to track Conan._

"W-Well..."

"Wait." Ai said, slowly. "You didn't tell him."

"No?"

He heard a slapping sound. Shinichi imagined she had slapped her face, and with the groan that followed, he was certain that she was frustrated.

"That's stupid," she said, without holding anything back. "Ran-san already knows he's with you. _You _even sent her a text asking her to call in sick for Conan-kun… And you still believe that, somehow, Conan-kun _won't _realize he was with you when he gets back home. Assuming he doesn't know already, of course."

"... It sounds rather stupid when you say it out loud."

"Because it _is_." She sounded _beyond _irritated right now. "Why didn't you say anything by now? Do you seriously want him to kill you?"

"Of course not! It's just that..." His voice trailed down into an uncertain whisper. "I… I don't want him to _ask..._"

Her heavy, long sigh followed his statement. "Look, I'm aware that you're afraid of confrontation, but it's going to happen someday. Stalling won't help _any _of you."

He said nothing to that.

"And that applies not only to him. Don't be a coward and _call _Ran-san, would you?"

Not even waiting for the answer she knew it wouldn't come, Ai ended up the call, leaving Shinichi alone to stare blankly ahead, the beeping sound still in his ear, before he sighed and shoved the phone back in his pocket and headed back to his classroom. Class was just about to start, after all.

The sight of Kuroba leaning against the window frame and playing with the coin that Corbeau had left behind last night didn't really surprise Shinichi. Shrugging, he moved closer to him, but the magician didn't even notice him. He simply stared at the sky with a thoughtful expression.

"Hey, hey," sighed Arthur, causing the boy to jump, startled. "Still haven't figured it out?"

His surprise drained into annoyance once he caught sight of him. "Don't tell me you already did."

"It isn't so hard, if you know where you're supposed to look." He shrugged, moving closer, and leaned on the windowsill next to him. "Do you want a hint or something?"

Kaito scoffed at the idea. "I can figure it out myself, thanks."

"Well, I guess working as a stage magician in Las Vegas doesn't sound that bad..."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you made a deal with a fellow phantom thief you _don't _know and promised you'd quit being Kaito KID if you lost. You overestimated yourself there, Kuroba."

Kuroba grumbled something under his breath, to which Shinichi didn't pay attention at all. Just looked back ahead, eyes narrowing at the memory of black feathers dancing all around them. _Kaito Corbeau. _He frowned, deeply. _A thief that just came out of nowhere. And wants Kaito KID to suddenly retire?_

_Then Kuroba-san gets back home and says that Kuroba should just quit being a thief..._

_That's a bit too much for it to be a coincidence._

"Hey," Kaito then said, bringing him out of his own thoughts. "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You have a case at home already, don't you?"

"You mean a headache."

"Don't be too grim, didn't _you_ say it will be fine? He won't get in my room." The magician shrugged. "It's locked."

* * *

_It's locked._

Conan grunted, stepping away from the door. He had woken up on the couch a few minutes ago and, while it initially confused him because he couldn't remember how he had gotten there, it had dawned on him that it was past the time he was supposed to get to school, and he was still there. He had avoided getting sent back to Beika, somehow.

So he had sprung into action, silently slipping away from the living room without Chikage, who was chatting with someone over the phone in the kitchen, noticing. First had been Hirai Arthur's room, but as expected there was nothing of relevance there.

Then, Kuroba Kaito's room had caught his eye and had tried to open it, but to no avail. _Why would he lock his room? _He moved closer and, with a focused frown, tried to turn the knob again. _Maybe he just wants to get his mother away from his room… Or maybe..._

At that moment, he fervently wished he knew how to pick-lock a door.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Just as he was considering kicking it down with his powered shoes or something, a voice called from behind him. "It's not okay to get into people's rooms, Conan-kun."

The boy apologized with a sheepish smile. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's just that I smelled something..."

"Something?"

"Yeah, like something was burning."

Chikage sniffed the air. "I can't smell anything," she stated while rummaging through her pants' pocket and pulled out a key. "But we can check it out together if you want."

Conan nodded eagerly, not even bothering to ask if Kaito _knew _that his mother had the keys to his room, and followed her suit once she opened the door. Gaze wandered around, studying every single spot of it, only to let out a disappointed sigh at the realization that it was just an ordinary, high-schooler's room.

That was until he moved to the center and spotted something peculiar. His eyes gained a curious glint.

"Everything seems okay to me," the woman said, turning to the child. "Maybe you imagined it, Conan-kun."

Yet the kid didn't seem to hear, far too mesmerized with the framed picture displayed in front of him. A magician wearing black was smiling at the camera, holding a hat in one hand, a white dove resting in the other, as another two birds flew around him.

_Could this man be…? _he wondered, his hand raising slowly, fingers stretching to touch the picture.

He didn't get to. "Hey, don't do that, Conan-kun," scolded Chikage, lightly, as she plucked him from the ground and away from the picture. "Kaito won't appreciate it if you touch his things."

"Who is that person?" Not batting an eye at the previous statement, he craned his neck to look at her. "Kaito-niichan must look up to him a lot, to put his picture in his wall..."

"Of course he does." Chikage smiled, settling him back on the ground, and gently ushering him away from the room. "That person is his father, after all."

"Kuroba Toichi-san?" he questioned, following after her when she started walk away. "He passed away nine years ago, didn't he?"

"Yeah," she nodded at that. "Maybe you were too young to remember, but you were at his funeral, with your family."

"But how is that possible?" Conan was genuinely confused. "I'm eight_._"

"He had an accident. They didn't declare him dead until almost three years later."

"Was his body found?"

"No, they never did. But the case was archived because there was absolutely no way he could be alive."

"Oh." Conan didn't really know what to say. "I guess it must have been tough."

The woman stopped in her tracks at that and said nothing for a while. Conan momentarily worried he had said too much, until she turned around, kneeling in front of him. "Try not to talk about that in front of Kaito, alright?" she then said to him, her gentle smile untouched despite the conversation they were having. "He loved his father a lot, he still does. To him, he is the greatest magician to have ever existed."

"_Kuroba Toichi is, after all..." _He couldn't help but think back at that certain magician, standing under the pale silver glow of the night. "_... the magician I respect the most."_

A frown pinched his face, causing Chikage's head to tilt in slight confusion at the child that seemed to be somewhere _else. _But then, a blank expression took hold of his face. _No way. _He let out a low, dry chuckle at the ridiculous thought.

"Is something wrong, Conan-kun?"

Conan snapped out of it with her voice. "No, it's nothing." He pulled out a smile right away. "I was just thinking… He must have been such an incredible man, for Kaito-niichan to adore him so much!"

"One of the best!" she declared, standing up. "A wonderful teacher as well."

_That for sure… Not that it's actually a good thing, though, all things considered._

"Every time I see his students on TV, I can't help but remember him," she continued, standing up and heading back to the living room. "He truly did an excellent job."

"Students? Did he have a student other than my mother?"

"A few. Besides her, just another one was more interested in his disguise skills, rather than his magic tricks..." He blinked big, innocent eyes at her, surprised from hearing that. "She was rather famous as well, I think you must have heard about her… Is the name Sharon Vineyard familiar to you?"

Chikage waited for his reply, yet she didn't get one. Turning around, she was surprised to see the little kid standing there, eyes wide open with horror and sickly pale skin growing even whiter, if possible. He recovered right away, as soon as he noticed it, and smiled again, his cheerful facade back again.

"Nope, I don't think I so."

* * *

"KID! KID! KID!"

"Corbeau! Corbeau! Corbeau!"

Hirai Arthur groaned, tiredly, as the pair squeezed their way through the loud crowd of people. "Seriously," he whined out loud, glaring at another fangirl that had just screamed KID's name in his ear as he passed by. "Why am I even here?"

"Because Hakuba-niichan said you should come," answered the child, looking more-or-less as irritated as the teenager at the multitude. Also, because Arthur's hand was gripping his tightly enough to hurt, probably fearing that he could lose him with so many people around. "Besides, doesn't it intrigue you?"

"What exactly?"

"Ah, yeah. You _did _figure it out." Hirai's mouth clicked shut, avoiding the child's curious gaze set on him. "How did you do it? And please, don't say '_magic' _or else..."

"It isn't hard once you realize _where _to look." There was a genuinely bright grin on Arthur's face as he spoke with the kid ─ a grin that, secretly, Conan could recognize. "Like, for example, the pedestal the inspector was sitting at."

Conan hummed thoughtfully at that. "It was hot," he mumbled to himself. "Why?"

"Rather than 'why', ask yourself 'for what purpose?' and you will be good to go, Conan… kun."

The kid ignored the very obvious slip in favor of carefully thinking over his words. His eyes narrowed in thought ─ his finger would have raised to his chin automatically if it wasn't for the skateboard tucked under his arm ─ struggling to come up with the purpose of keeping some sort of heater in there, unaware of the teenager that was gazing at him, with a small satisfied smile on his face.

It vanished right away, breath hitching with a chill running down Arthur's spine, leaving him shivering. Instantly, his head snapped to look over his shoulder, only to see nothing but crazed fans waiting for their favourite thief's appearance, and let out a shaky breath, barely looking at the officer that let them through and crossing the street.

"Arthur-niichan?" Conan's innocent voice and all-too-seeing gaze snapped him out of his stupor. "Is something the matter?"

He shook his head right away, even if he could feel the cold sweat making its way down his temple. "Nothing you should worry about," he told the child upon reaching the door to the building, and kneeling in front of him. "I just… don't like crowds that much."

Conan raised an eyebrow, expression plain, not quite believing him but said nothing else. Arthur barely paid attention, his hands fumbling with Kaito's old jacket that the child was currently wearing, which he had forced him to wear, zipping it up ─ with astounding ease, although he was using winter gloves ─ while mumbling something about 'being cold inside' and 'you will catch a cold, Conan-kun'.

Yet, the kid didn't even protest, annoyed about him fussing over him. He was frowning instead, staring intently at the teen's hands. They were trembling slightly.

_I'm just being a tad paranoid, _Arthur told himself, looking back at the child with a smile. _They are not here..._

That was until he saw it. Over Conan's shoulder, he distinguished something passing by so quickly that he would have missed it if he hadn't been looking. An old, black car that he would have recognized anywhere…

A Porsche 365A.

"-niichan?" Arthur blinked at the child who was looking back at him, worried beyond a doubt. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Actually, I'm a bit dizzy," he lied straight away. "I wonder if I caught a cold from yesterday..."

Conan's eyebrows furrowed together, studying his face for an awfully long moment, before his hand raised. Arthur realized he was trying to touch his face, so he quickly stood up and smiled down at him, away from his reach. "I don't think it's a good idea to go in there," he said to the confused kid. "Tell Hakuba I'm sorry, but I'm not coming."

"Hey, wait-" Little fingers stretched towards him.

His words fell into deaf ears, and his hand fell limply at his side. For the longest time, he just stared at the teen who was gradually becoming smaller with every step he took, before his eyes took into a serious glint.

The teen took a step forward. So did the child.

But a hand grasping his shoulder prevented him from going anywhere, roughly spinning him around instead. He was about to complain to whoever was doing it, until he realized that, in front of him, was a face he easily recognized, staring wide-eyed back at him.

"Brat?!"

"Occhan?!" Conan gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I invited him," said Hakuba, as he appeared from behind the shocked, older detective. "Just I met him a few minutes ago and said he wanted to attend the heist, and couldn't deny his request."

The child gave the high schooler a silent, unreadable stare at that.

"More importantly..." Kogoro's eyebrow raised, as he gave the kid a rather intense look. "What are _you _doing here?"

The child took a step back. "What are you talking about? I'm the KID Killer, aren't I?" he tried with a nervous laugh. "I wanted to see who was this phantom thief that is giving KID so much trouble."

Kogoro looked as if he wanted to add something. "We should get going." But he didn't get to, since Hakuba spoke before anything else could be said. "Inspector Nakamori is waiting for us inside."

"Waiting for _you_, you mean," the kid started with a plain tone.

Merely shrugging at that, Hakuba promptly turned around and went ahead. Conan, on the other hand, watched Kogoro standing up with a sigh and stepping up to follow him. He was about to do the same, but his eyes drifted to the darkened streets, where the teen had just disappeared from.

"So, where is he?" His gaze snapped to the man standing in front of him. "The detective brat. He was with you, wasn't he?"

It took him a moment more than necessary, but he finally shook his head. "He ran off," he admitted, with a smile that looked awfully forced, even to Kogoro's eyes. Probably because he noticed that the adult could _see _it, he avoided his gaze, staring at a random point on the floor. _As he always does._

Kogoro didn't emit any reply right away, prompting Conan to wonder if he would just let it be, turn around and continue as if nothing had happened. "You know, squirt..." But then he heard a resigned sigh. "You… You are not in trouble."

"Ah, is that so?" He let out a chuckle, but did not meet his eyes. "I'm glad. It would've been awful if I got grounded just the day before Golden Week."

So, deciding that this awkward conversation was finally over, the boy's hands slid inside his pockets and was about to go inside the building. He didn't walk two steps ahead from Kogoro when he felt a hand falling on his hair.

"Listen, I don't know how to properly tell you this, but..." Kogoro crouched right behind him, his hand still awkwardly resting on top of his head, obviously struggling with what to say next. "We'll figure this out. I promise you that."

It was followed by a groan coming from the boy, as the adult roughly ruffled his hair and, ever so stiffly, walked away and inside the building.

Conan honestly didn't know what to make out of it.

* * *

Shinichi was wheezing, leaning forward slightly as he tried to get the air his body didn't seem to want. _Damn it, _he cursed in his mind, resting his hands on his knees. _Did I lose them?_

His hand rose to wipe some sweat from his forehead. He was exhausted ─ was that normal, actually? _I hadn't been running for so long, _he reasoned, with a frown. _And I'm this winded..._

The detective straightened up with a sigh, carefully looking through his surroundings. _Most of the streets are closed because of the heist. _Putting the hood over his head, he moved closer to the crossing lane where the red light was shining in the middle of the night, and pulled out his phone. _If he didn't leave already… _With his teeth, he took one of his gloves off so that he could touch the screen.

He carefully studied the map. _The only way he can go is…_

The very same crossing he was standing at. _Just one. _His hand grasped a little something he had inside his pocket. _Just this one chance. That's all I have._

He saw lights in the distance and took a deep breath in. _It's all or nothing, _he thought, gaze fixed on the smartphone in his hand.

And stepped up into the street.

* * *

"It's _so_ cold!"

At that, Conan couldn't help but give Kogoro a bored look. "I told you to wear a jacket," stated the kid with an even tone.

"Where was I supposed to get a jacket? I didn't have one with me!"

He crossed his arms behind his head in reply. "It's not my fault you didn't investigate enough." His eyebrow raised. "This is the _exact _same technique they used last night. And the night before."

"But..." Though Inspector Nakamori was feeling a bit annoyed over the fact that Hakuba seemed to bring so many people along lately, he seemed to have calmed down somehow ─ probably having given up because, seriously, he couldn't really change it. "Isn't this floor getting even colder?"

"Yeah." Nezu smirked. "That's because I had a contractor cover the walls and ceiling with refrigerants."

_Yeah, getting the room to be even colder. _Conan's eyelids dropped slightly as he raised an eyebrow. _Like that's going to be of any help._

His eyes focused on the jewel in Nezu's hands, as he gave it a final check. _I wonder if he's going to switch it with a fake again, _even if he had said that he wouldn't use the same trick twice. _The cold room strategy is getting a bit old, though._

"_Rather than 'why', ask yourself 'for what purpose?'"_

He approached the jewel, silent in thought. _The pedestal from before was hot… Hot, in a cold room… What would it have been done for?_

Nezu asked the police to bring '_the fan'_ and, sure enough, a fan of ridiculous proportions was brought right behind the jewel, with the pretense that it would blow the crow feathers away and prevent them from obscuring their sight.

Just like last time, Nakamori was told to kneel over the crystal and hold on to the handles with all his might. _Talk about not repeating a trick. _Conan let out a dry laugh.

"Inspector," Hakuba said, looking into his pocket watch. "We're nearing midnight."

"So it's around time, huh?" Through his chattering teeth, Kogoro managed.

He turned to look at the kid, who seemed to be unfazed by the cold, a fact that didn't really surprise him. What startled him a bit, however, was that he wasn't looking anywhere near the jewel's direction.

Conan's just narrowed slightly, not moving from Hakuba Saguru's form.

* * *

"Hey! Do you have a death wish or something?!"

Gasping lightly, Shinichi stood up, resting gloved hands on top of the car in front of him in order to stand up. "Sorry," he apologized, not daring to look up and show them his face. "I wasn't looking..."

His hand cradled his shoulder, his other resting against the car to regain his balance. Slowly, he approached the passenger's window and, with a gasp, he stumbled forward, hand instantly reaching for the door to keep himself from falling. "Excuse me..." he said between gasps. "Would you please take me to-?"

Giving nothing but a scowl, the Gin drove off, leaving Shinichi to drop into his rear. He didn't look up, even after the black Porsche had disappeared.

It took a long time for the pressure to vanish, and for the lump in Shinichi's throat to loosen up, but once it did, a satisfied smirk blossomed in his features.

_Got you, Gin._

Slowly standing up, Shinichi put on his earphone and casually started to walk away.

"Seriously, that brat..." Vodka's distinctive gruff voice ran through his ears. "Too bad you didn't run him over, Aniki."

At this point, it didn't bother him that Vodka wouldn't have minded if he had suffered a slow, painful death ─ seriously, his organization already killed him in one sense, so there was no difference. Instead of that, he let his smirk grow wider.

He felt unbelievably lucky that he had asked for those adhesive microphones, along with the voice-changer choker he gave Akai for his secret identity. _Jii-san's professor friend is incredible. _Really, he had made those in record time without asking the reason. He had done most Kuroba's gadgets, too. _I wonder if Professor Agasa could learn a thing or two about him..._

"We can't bring attention to ourselves." Shinichi would recognize Gin's gelid voice _anywhere_. "At least until that woman reports back to us."

_Vermouth, _the detective's brain supplied.

"We're lucky that he decided to attend that thief's heist." There was a halt in his steps when he heard that. "So all we can do is wait for her to call, huh? Since she had to leave her car in a parking lot, several kilometers away from her position so that nobody sees through her disguise, we have to pick her up after she's finished there."

Instantly, Shinichi's eyes were on the phone, looking for nearby parking lots. _Got it. _He smirked to himself. That was the only one around, so that had to be it.

"But then? What are we going to do after we receive that information?"

"Isn't it obvious? Whoever is the rat endangering the Organization will be eliminated by the end of this night." The detective could _hear _Gin's sadistic smirk. "Be it Great Detective Mouri Kogoro, or anyone else."

Shinichi couldn't help himself. In the middle of the silent night, he gasped loudly.

* * *

"Still, between this cold and the strong wind… I feel like I'm going to freeze to death-! Wait..." From his spot where he was protecting the jewel, the inspector blinked, dumbly. "... It's not cold?"

Conan frowned upon the realization that, indeed, the room wasn't as cold as it was before. Hakuba soon realized that the reason was the cooling system ─ it had been shut down, somehow. _It's not cold anymore… _He wondered if that was crucial for the trick to work. _The other time, the heater under the jewel… There has to be a relation to that._

_Can a jewel disappear just by adding some heat? _

_No, that doesn't make sense… Unless… there was no jewel to begin with._

… _Is there something that can disappear from plain sight by raising its temperature?_

His eyes fell on Nezu, observing that he was wearing black gloves ─ he had used them the other day. Then, he gazed at the pedestal where the Midnight Crow rested, protected by a thick crystal, on top of a black cushion… Wait. _Black?_

Realization struck him. _I see… _Now it was clear. _So that was it!_

It explained everything… Why the room was kept in such a low temperature, why it was essential for warmth to be applied.

He smirked, eyeing Nezu from the corner of the eye.

_Found you, Kaito Corbeau._

Black and white feathers soon covered his vision_. _This time around, however, the child didn't seem to be fazed at it.

_And also..._

* * *

Shinichi jumped out of the taxi and closed the door as soon as it stopped, quickly giving the driver money that he deemed enough to cover his expenses and bolted inside the parking lot.

_I can't just make an appearance there. _It would be dangerous with those people around ─ especially since he wasn't sure that it was just Vermouth there ─ but not just for him. Mouri was there. _Conan _was there.

He couldn't put them in risk.

But he still had to figure something out, and _quickly. _He didn't know what, but guessed that something would occur to him if he found _that._

Sure enough, he did. There in front of him was Vermouth's Tomaso de Pantera.

Hands inside his pockets, he moved closer and observed it, just like an ordinary passerby would check a rare car like that one. _No good. _Smoked windows, he noted right away. _I can't see anything inside._

He thought of just leaving and trying to confront the woman face-to-face, when he realized something. _This model... Has a manual lock, if I'm not mistaken..._

Looking from side to side, he realized there was nobody nearby and sighed. _Here goes nothing, I guess. _He kneeled down and took his shoelaces off, tying them together to get a longer rope, then making a slip knot in it.

_I feel like a criminal, _the detective grimaced as he, carefully, slid the rope through the door from the top corner. _Technically speaking, I am a criminal, though. _And pulled it down.

Fitting the knot over the lock proved to be especially hard with smoked windows but, eventually, a smirk drew itself in his features when he realized that he had managed to do it, then immediately pulled upwards, diagonally.

Vermouth's car was finally unlocked. Taking a deep breath, the teenage detective opened the door.

What he found there left him speechless.

There, knocked out cold ─ but definitely alive, thank God for that ─ a person lied against the passenger seat. Someone that Shinichi could recognize right away.

His blood froze in his veins.

_Hakuba?!_

* * *

_And also..._

Conan's gaze pierced through the back of Hakuba Saguru's head.

_Found you as well, Kaito KID._


End file.
